The field of animal welfare science is rapidly advancing, with emerging research on positive welfare states, wild animal suffering, and invertebrate sentience reshaping how we understand and measure animal wellbeing.
Animal welfare science is in a transformative period where the question has shifted from 'does this animal suffer?' to 'how do we measure and promote the positive welfare states that characterize thriving rather than merely not suffering?' The expansion of welfare concern to wild animal suffering - acknowledging that the vast majority of wild animals die painful deaths in nature - challenges conservationists to consider whether habitat protection and population management can incorporate welfare alongside population viability objectives. The growing evidence for invertebrate sentience will extend the circle of welfare concern to vastly larger numbers of individuals than current frameworks address.