Long-term recovery outcomes for California sea lions treated for domoic acid toxicosis inform both individual welfare assessment and rehabilitation program effectiveness evaluation.
Post-release welfare tracking for domoic acid sea lions represents an important evolution in rehabilitation welfare science — moving beyond survival at release as the primary outcome measure to assess whether released animals achieve genuine welfare restoration. The finding that many animals have altered foraging behavior and higher recidivism rates suggests that apparent physical recovery does not always translate to complete welfare restoration. This welfare outcome data improves future triage decisions — helping rehabilitation facilities distinguish between animals with good welfare prognosis and those whose long-term welfare is unlikely to be adequate despite physical recovery, enabling more compassionate and evidence-based euthanasia decisions when appropriate.