Controlling invasive predators to protect native species involves welfare trade-offs that require evidence-based and ethically considered approaches.
Invasive predator control creates unavoidable welfare trade-offs: the welfare of individual invasive animals killed versus the welfare of the native animals they would kill and the ecosystems they would degrade. The ethics depend heavily on method. Broad-spectrum poisons like 1080 cause prolonged suffering in target and bycatch animals. Targeted kill traps cause more rapid death but require frequent checking. The welfare case for invasive predator control depends on: the method used, the species targeted, the realistic native species welfare benefits, and the availability of humane alternatives. There is no single answer - each context requires careful analysis.