Wolf reintroduction programmes focus largely on ecological outcomes, but individual wolf welfare during capture, translocation, and establishment in new territories deserves equal attention.
Individual wolf welfare in reintroduction is often subordinated to population-level goals, but the two need not conflict. Wolves experience stress, pain, and social disruption during capture and translocation, and the months after release involve intense challenges including unfamiliar prey, hostile resident wildlife, and human persecution. Welfare-informed reintroduction planning involves minimising capture stress through rapid processing, using lighter monitoring technology, providing supplementary feeding in early establishment phases, and monitoring individual body condition and behaviour. Attending to individual welfare can also improve survival rates and thus ecological success.