Lapwing, curlew, and other ground-nesting birds face high nest predation rates that contribute to their population decline. Targeted predation management can improve breeding success and individual welfare.
Wading bird welfare from predation involves both the acute stress and death of nest failure and the repeated costs of failed breeding attempts across a season. Adult birds that lose multiple clutches may attempt three or four nests in a season, each requiring significant energy investment. Chicks that are predated experience acute fear and pain. Conservation predation management creates its own welfare trade-offs - Larsen trapping kills corvids that are themselves sentient animals. Electric fencing is the most welfare-neutral intervention, protecting nests without lethal predator control. Site-specific approaches that prioritise non-lethal tools are most defensible.