Dedicated research institutions studying wild animal welfare are essential infrastructure for evidence-based wildlife management and conservation.
Wild animal welfare research represents an underdeveloped but growing field with implications for the welfare of the majority of sentient animals on Earth. Unlike farm and companion animal welfare, wild animal welfare has received relatively little systematic research attention - the welfare of billions of wild animals remains largely unstudied. The Wild Animal Initiative's research agenda - identifying interventions that can reduce wild animal suffering at scale - addresses this gap. Methodological tools including non-invasive hormone monitoring, behavioral observation, and acoustic sensing are enabling welfare assessment in wild populations without the capture stress that compromises both welfare and research quality.