Wildlife Welfare

Wild Puffin Climate Welfare and Conservation

Atlantic puffin populations face growing welfare and conservation threats from climate-driven changes in prey availability.

Key Facts

Puffins feed primarily on sand eels and small fish that are shifting in distribution due to warming seas
Poor breeding seasons with chick starvation have become more frequent in UK colonies
Puffin chicks that starve die slowly over several days creating significant welfare harm
Adult puffins show behavioural changes indicating nutritional stress in poor sand eel years
Climate change is the primary driver of sand eel distribution shifts

Welfare Considerations

Puffin chick starvation represents an acute and growing welfare emergency driven by climate change. Chicks dying of starvation experience a prolonged decline over days, during which their parents may make increasingly unsuccessful foraging attempts. The helplessness of adult birds unable to feed their young represents a form of welfare stress that extends beyond the individual chick. Addressing climate change is fundamentally an animal welfare issue.

What You Can Do

Support puffin monitoring and conservation organisations
Advocate for climate action as an animal welfare priority
Choose sustainable seafood to reduce fishing pressure on sand eels and other small fish