The recovery of wolf populations across Europe and North America has reignited debates about livestock predation, with both wolf welfare and farming livelihoods requiring consideration in coexistence strategies.
Wolf-livestock conflict creates welfare challenges for multiple species. Prey animals killed or injured in wolf attacks suffer acutely, and the stress of predation events can affect the welfare of surviving herd members. However, wolves killed in lethal control programs and pups killed as part of pack management also suffer. Non-lethal prevention strategies are both more effective in the long term and far less harmful to individual animals. The welfare of wolf packs disrupted by lethal control is often overlooked — pack social structure, pup rearing, and long-term viability are all damaged by removing adult wolves. Supporting robust non-lethal coexistence programs protects both livestock welfare and wolf welfare simultaneously.