Wading birds like curlew and lapwing have suffered catastrophic declines in the UK. Predator management on nesting sites is a key intervention for improving breeding success.
Nest predation results in the death of eggs and chicks, representing both conservation and welfare loss. Parent waders invest enormous energy in territory defence and incubation; nest failure causes distress behaviours and repeated re-nesting attempts that further drain resources. Predator management using legal trapping methods — Larsen traps for corvids, cage traps for foxes — causes welfare impact to the predators concerned and requires careful ethical consideration. The welfare balance must weigh the suffering of trapped individuals against the population-level benefit to prey species. Lethal predator management in carefully targeted conservation contexts, conducted humanely and by trained operators, is accepted as welfare-justifiable by most conservation bodies.