Netting used in agriculture, aquaculture, and gardens to protect crops and fish can entangle and kill wildlife including birds, reptiles, and small mammals, with preventable design modifications substantially reducing incidental mortality.
Wildlife netting mortality is an almost invisible welfare problem: individual birds and animals die entangled in agricultural and garden netting with no witnesses, and the cumulative mortality across millions of properties using netting annually is substantial. The solutions are simple and available: wildlife-friendly netting with appropriate mesh sizes, properly installed nets that are taut rather than loose, and net checks that release entangled animals before death. The welfare barrier is primarily awareness — most people using netting do not know that standard products cause wildlife harm and that alternatives exist. Targeted education at the point of purchase could produce significant welfare improvement with minimal cost.