Numbats are diurnal termite-eating marsupials restricted to a few small populations in Western Australia. Predation by introduced foxes and cats has driven them to near-extinction, making predator control critical for welfare and survival.
Numbats face existential welfare pressure from predation. Fox predation causes traumatic death and creates a landscape of chronic fear in survivors — prey animals under predation pressure show persistent stress responses even when not actively hunted. The restriction of numbat populations to small, isolated patches creates the welfare problems associated with isolation: reduced genetic diversity, reduced capacity to find mates, and vulnerability to local catastrophic events. Feral cat predation adds additional pressure. The welfare of numbats in predator-controlled reserves is substantially better than outside them — animals show more natural foraging behaviour, better body condition, and reproductive success in protected areas. Recovery programme management, including captive breeding and translocation, involves necessary handling stress but enables long-term welfare improvement through population growth.