Wild boar populations face growing threats from disease including African swine fever and tuberculosis. Managing disease in wild populations raises significant welfare and conservation questions.
Disease in wild boar populations causes genuine and often severe suffering at individual and population levels. Hemorrhagic fevers like ASF cause slow, painful deaths. Disease management through culling raises welfare concerns about killing methods and stress caused to surviving animals. Vaccination programs, where feasible, offer a more welfare-positive approach. Wildlife disease management must balance biosecurity goals with compassion for individual animals — a challenge requiring coordinated scientific, veterinary, and policy approaches. The welfare of wild animals during disease events deserves greater recognition in public health and conservation planning.