African wild dogs (painted wolves) maintain large exclusive territories that require connectivity across national boundaries. Loss of territory to human settlement causes welfare harms through increased conflict, road mortality, and prey depletion.
Individual painted wolves in fragmented territories experience more frequent encounters with humans, vehicles, and livestock - each carrying welfare and mortality risks. Packs denied adequate territory cannot support their natural social structure or sustain breeding. Transfrontier conservation areas that protect territory networks across national borders are among the most effective welfare interventions. Community coexistence programs that compensate livestock losses and educate communities reduce retaliatory killing, directly improving welfare for animals living near human settlements.