Snares and traps used in wildlife management and illegal poaching cause prolonged suffering in caught animals, and the design, placement, and check frequency of legal traps significantly determines their welfare impact.
Trap and snare welfare represents a welfare problem with clearly better and worse practices available. Traps designed to kill rapidly and reliably have substantially lower welfare costs than restraining traps that hold animals alive for extended periods. Check frequency regulations that limit the time animals can remain trapped alive reduce welfare harm from restraint traps. Non-target bycatch is a welfare problem that requires trap design and placement management to reduce. The enforcement challenge in remote areas means that self-reporting and voluntary welfare standards play a role alongside regulation. Consumer support for wildlife management programs with demonstrated welfare standards sends market signals about acceptable practice.