Grey wolves are keystone predators whose pack dynamics are fundamental to their welfare. Persecution, habitat loss, and prey depletion threaten pack integrity across their recovering range, with cascading welfare consequences for individual animals and ecosystems.
Wolves killed illegally or in legal culls experience the welfare costs of the killing method itself and, where pack members survive, the social disruption of losing key individuals. Packs that lose breeding adults face reproductive failure and potential dissolution. Young wolves dispersing through human-dominated landscapes face chronic stress from human proximity, traffic, and persecution. Coexistence programs that provide rapid and fair livestock compensation, support livestock guardian dog programs, and conduct community engagement to reduce illegal killing protect wolf welfare at both individual and pack levels. The evidence from Yellowstone and European recovery areas demonstrates that wolves can coexist with human land use when social and economic conditions support tolerance.