Wildlife Welfare

The animal welfare debate has long been focused on the welfare of domestic animals, possibly including the welfare of wildlife kept in captivity. However, there is a growing insight into the fact that wildlife welfare can certainly be seen as a responsibility of the human society, for several reasons. There is an interest in modern research focusing on the welfare of wildlife in relation to various direct or indirect human interventions. For wildlife kept at zoos the human impact is obvious and improvements e.g. in terms of enrichment needs more research. With the growth of the human population our agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure and exploitation projects affecting wild habitats and thereby influencing the quality of life and survival of individual wild animals, as well as entire species.

Specific topics:
• Wildlife welfare in relation to habitat destruction and biodiversity loss.
• Wildlife welfare in relation to conservation efforts, including captive breeding and/or translocation, during captivity and/or after release.
• Wildlife welfare in relation to wildlife tourism.
• Wildlife welfare in relation to interactions between wildlife and livestock (predation, disease transmission, hunting, poinsoning).
• Wildlife welfare in relation to research, at research facilities or in the wild (including aspects of camera traps or drones, GPS or radio transmitters).
• Wildlife welfare in relation to game management and hunting.
• Marine wildlife welfare, including fishing, sports fishing and by-catch.
• Animal welfare aspects of invasive species, including eradication programmes.
• Attitudes to wildlife welfare.

Types of manuscripts:
This research topic welcomes contributions such as reviews, original research, and short communications.