Rewilding initiatives that restore ecosystems and predator-prey dynamics have complex welfare implications for the animals involved.
Rewilding presents a genuine welfare complexity: restoring natural ecosystem function often increases predation and wildlife diseases that cause significant individual animal suffering, while simultaneously creating conditions for populations to flourish. The tension between individual welfare and population-level health is stark in rewilding contexts. Wolves and lynx improve ecosystem health through trophic cascades but also cause prey animals significant fear and injury. Welfare-conscious rewilding frameworks should consider mitigation strategies for the most severe welfare harms while supporting broader ecosystem restoration.