Grey seals are the UK's largest native predator by weight, with a thriving population that creates complex welfare trade-offs with salmon farms, fisheries, and conservation goals.
Grey seal welfare involves both population management debates and individual animal welfare needs. Licensed culling creates welfare harm through shooting - quality of culling determines whether individuals die quickly or with prolonged suffering. Seal entanglement in nets causes drowning distress and injury. Rehabilitated orphaned pups require weeks of intensive care before release. The population recovery success story demonstrates that protection enables wildlife to recover even after near-extinction - a welfare and conservation alignment. Current management debates about whether growing seal populations require active control must be evaluated with welfare evidence, not just fisheries economics.