Modern wildlife monitoring uses GPS collars, ear tags, implants and camera traps. Understanding the welfare implications of monitoring technology helps researchers make more ethical choices.
Wildlife monitoring technology creates welfare considerations that researchers must weigh against the scientific and conservation value of the data obtained. Capture for device attachment carries significant risks: capture myopathy (a stress-induced muscle breakdown syndrome) can cause death in ungulates during or after chase. Poorly fitted or overweight collars cause pressure necrosis, restrict movement and can trap the mandible as animals grow. Device weight standards recommend maximum 3% of body weight for mammal collars. The development of less invasive monitoring technologies including camera traps, acoustic monitoring, environmental DNA and satellite imagery is reducing but not eliminating the need for physical capture and attachment. Research ethics review of monitoring proposals should systematically assess welfare impacts and require the least invasive methodology that achieves study objectives.