Meet our grantees
Wild Animal Initiative funds academic research on high-priority questions in wild animal welfare.
The goal of our grants program is to fund research that deepens scientific knowledge of the welfare of wild animals in order to better understand how to improve the welfare of as many wild animals as possible, regardless of what causes the threats to their well-being.
We showcase our grantees and their projects here and continuously update this page as new projects are added.
A bird’s eye view to the five domains of welfare: a quantitative framework and proof-of-concept evaluation in a cetacean, Orcinus orca
Grantees: Saana Isojunno, Eve Jourdain
Institutions: University of St. Andrews, Norwegian Orca Survey
Project summary
This project will carry out body condition and welfare assessments for inshore-foraging killer whales in the northeast Atlantic. The researchers will use the Five Domains model to categorize likely factors influencing killer whale welfare and quantify some of those factors using aerial photography from drones. They will gather data on foraging time and feeding rates, group composition and surface behavior, body shape as a proxy for body condition and blubber reserves, and reproductive success. The researchers will then develop a proof-of-concept statistical model to infer latent motivational states beneath the observable data. The project will also utilize data from known cases of poor welfare to help define their welfare scale.
Grantees: Saana Isojunno and Eve Jourdain
Institutions: University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and Norwegian Orca Survey, Norway
Grant amount: $28,707
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: Orca (Orcinus orca)
Conservation status: Data deficient
Disciplines: Animal welfare science, bio/eco-informatics, physiology, animal behavior, marine biology
Research location: Scotland, Norway
Project summary
This project will carry out body condition and welfare assessment for inshore-foraging killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the northeast Atlantic as an extension to ongoing research in Scotland and Norway. The researchers will use the Five Domains model to categorize likely factors influencing killer whale welfare, and then quantify some of those factors using aerial photography from drones. Specifically, the researchers intend to gather data on foraging time and feeding rates (nutrition), group composition and surface behavior (behavior), and body shape as a proxy for body condition and blubber reserves (health). Data will also be collected on reproductive success (e.g., calf loss). The researchers will then develop a proof-of-concept statistical model to infer latent motivational states (i.e., “true” welfare as a psychological state) beneath the observable data. The project will also utilize data from known cases of poor welfare (where individual social and nutritional needs are not met) to help define their welfare scale.
Why we funded this project
We funded this project because we see hidden state models as promising statistical tools for representing the relationship between disparate data types and welfare, and would like to see this project provide a proof of the concept. This project will also implement a cost-effective and non-invasive approach method based on photogrammetry to assess cetacean health and behavior. Finally, we wanted to fund this project because it spans multiple universities and a citizen science community, creating significant networking opportunities to promote welfare biology.
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Mapping welfare for conservation management
Grantee: Lisa Olivier
Institution: Game Rangers International
Project summary
This project will monitor behavioral and physiological parameters in African elephants over one year to map their perception of their environment. The aim is to test this approach’s potential as a leading indicator that is easy to measure, responds quickly to ecosystem changes, and highlights potential detrimental impacts. These measures will be aggregated to define a scale representing the animals’ perceptions of threat that can be estimated for a given time and place. The researchers will then project this data onto maps to identify areas of high and low welfare. The project will help conservation practitioners create management plans to protect wild animals by providing a head start in assessing changes in their surroundings.
Grantee: Lisa Olivier
Institutions: Game Rangers International, Zambia
Grant amount: $29,791
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: African elephant (Loxodonta)
Conservation status: Endangered
Disciplines: Animal behavior, animal welfare science, wildlife management
Research location: Zambia
Project summary
To effectively steward wild animal welfare, leading indicators are needed that predict the future rather than summarizing the past. These must be easy to measure, respond quickly to ecosystem changes and highlight potential detrimental impacts that need addressing, including anthropogenic activities. This project aims to test the approach of mapping wild animals’ perception of their environment by monitoring an array of behavioral and physiological parameters in African elephants over a year as they navigate the landscape. These measures will be aggregated to define a scale representing the animals’ perceptions of threat that can be estimated for a given time and place. The researchers will then project these data onto maps to identify areas of high and low welfare, where animals may be feeling alternatively secure or fearful. The researchers intend for the project to help conservation practitioners create better management plans to protect wild animal populations by providing a head start in assessing changes in their surroundings.
Why we funded this project
We are excited by this project’s analysis of a long-term longitudinal dataset because of the importance of understanding how wild animals’ welfare varies with demographic factors such as age and sex, as these groups often face different challenges and have different ecological and behavioral requirements, and negative welfare impacts that fall on young individuals may also have ripple effects throughout their lives. We also appreciate this project’s holistic approach. The long-term monitoring means it is possible to consider not only the usual downstream welfare indicators based on health and behavior, but also upstream factors that might influence them, such as social interactions and exposure to predators.
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Every breath you take, I‘ll be watching you: Automated measurement of breath rate from mobile phone videos as a severity assessment parameter in wild great tits
Grantee: Caroline Deimel
Institution: Max Planck Institute
Project summary
This project aims to provide a validated reference tool for standardizing breath rate (BR) measurements following capture and physical sampling protocols in wild birds. The researchers will use computer vision capabilities and other recently developed software improvements to estimate BR metrics from mobile phone videos, enabling the collection of objective, reproducible, and comparable data, and providing institutions tasked to oversee animal welfare with objective and feasible monitoring requirements. The project will also evaluate BR as a welfare indicator in great tits by analyzing an existing five-year dataset to test whether BR corresponds to simultaneous glucocorticoid measurements from free-living great tits. This data will provide reliable baselines and ranges for glucocorticoids and BR, and benchmarks for video recording lengths.
Grantee: Caroline Deimel
Institutions: Max Planck Institute, Germany
Grant amount: $19,200
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: Great tits (Parus major)
Conservation status: Least concern
Disciplines: Animal behavior, animal welfare science, physiology
Research location: Germany
Project summary
Breath rate (BR) is increasingly used as a non-invasive proxy of stress that is fast, cheap, and field-friendly. However, BR has not been evaluated in a bird welfare context, and it is unclear how it relates to established physiological proxies of stress, like glucocorticoid measurements in blood. Also, the currently used protocols to measure BR lack standardization, scalability, and validation. This project aims to provide a validated, non-invasive reference tool for standardizing BR measurements following capture and physical sampling protocols in wild birds by implementing computer vision capabilities and other improvements in software the researchers have recently developed to estimate BR metrics from mobile phone videos. This will allow the research community to gather objective, reproducible, and comparable data, and provide institutions tasked to oversee animal welfare with objective and feasible monitoring requirements. The project will also evaluate BR as a welfare indicator in great tits (Parus major), a songbird extensively used in wild animal research across Europe, by analyzing an existing, five-year dataset to test whether BR corresponds to simultaneous glucocorticoid measurements from free-living great tits. These data will provide reliable baselines and ranges for glucocorticoids and BR, and benchmarks for video recording lengths.
Why we funded this project
We are generally interested in developing non-invasive ways of measuring indicators of wild animal welfare. One of the key advantages to non-invasive measurement, besides the obvious of not causing unnecessary fear or pain to animals, is that stress induced by the measurement process can obscure the animal’s baseline stress levels if the method is too invasive or not carried out properly. We also tentatively believe that instilling a norm of minimizing animal harm within welfare biology research will increase the likelihood that researchers act as scientist-advocates for implementation of wild animal welfare interventions. This project’s focus on making breath rate easy and inexpensive to measure in a consistent way also fits well with our desire for a greater volume and accessibility of welfare data collection.
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City living – assessing the welfare costs of urban living in spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta)
Grantee: Emma Stone
Institutions: Carnivore Research Malawi, University of the West of England
Project summary
Networks of green spaces and river corridors support a population of urban spotted hyenas in Lilongwe City, Malawi. However, human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is frequent. Using non-invasive techniques, this project will measure and compare the fecal and hair cortisol levels, mean body condition, tooth ware, hematological parameters, and disease in urban and rural populations of spotted hyenas. Behavioral experiments (exposure to novel objects and threatening scents) will also be used to assess individual boldness in urban and rural populations as a risk factor, which may increase propensity for HWC and therefore mortality and stress. Results will be used to inform policies to reduce HWC and implement welfare considerations as part of the population’s conservation management plan.
Grantee: Emma Stone
Institutions: Carnivore Research Malawi and University of the West of England, United Kingdom
Grant amount: $30,000
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: Spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta)
Conservation status: Least concern
Disciplines: Human-wildlife conflict, physiology, animal welfare science, animal behavior, infections disease
Research location: Malawi
Project summary
Lilongwe City (the capital of Malawi, central Africa) has a good network of green spaces and river corridors, supporting a population of urban spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). However, human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is frequent, often resulting in persecution of these animals. Using non-invasive techniques, this project will measure and compare the fecal and hair cortisol levels (as a proxy of stress), mean body condition, tooth ware, hematological parameters, and disease (toxoplasmosis and rabies) in spotted hyena between urban (Lilongwe district) and rural (Kasungu National Park) populations. Behavioral experiments (exposure to novel objects and threatening scents) will also be used to assess individual boldness in urban and rural populations as a risk factor, which may increase propensity for HWC and therefore mortality and stress. Results will be used to inform policies to reduce HWC and implement welfare considerations as part of the population’s conservation management plan.
Why we funded this project
Interactions between people and wildlife are increasing as urban areas expand. This is of particular concern with carnivores, as even small species can be perceived as threatening. Despite the fact that the developing world has the highest rate of urbanization, urban carnivore studies have generally focused on European and Asian cities, with research on African cities being relatively neglected. Although HWC is a traditional issue in conservation, we have encountered few projects that effectively address the more neglected question of how HWC interacts with non-anthropogenic welfare impacts. By considering a variety of welfare indicators/factors, including disease transmission and social dynamics, this project will help us understand that interaction, producing results that can be translated into more abundant urban species. Additionally, by funding at least some projects on endangered species, we increase the likelihood of our welfare-focused message reaching conservation practitioners, potentially leading to a greater emphasis on and interest in welfare within that community.
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From rehabilitation centers to the wild: Evaluating brown bear stress using blood and scat parameters
Grantee: Morteza Naderi
Institution: Koç University
Project summary
Brown bears play a prominent role in the ecosystems of northern and eastern Turkey. However, there are serious long-term threats to their welfare and viability that are common to other large omnivores, such as habitat fragmentation and increasing contact with humans. For example, open garbage dumps are located across the bear’s distribution and affect behavioral patterns in bears, including seasonal migration habits, whereby the bears would normally move into different areas to exploit seasonal resources. This project will involve a collaboration with KuzeyDoga, one of the only nature conservation NGOs in Turkey, to monitor the behavior and stress physiology of individual free-living bears using GPS collars, camera traps, and blood and fecal glucocorticoids (GCs).
Grantee: Morteza Naderi
Institution: Koç University, Turkey
Grant amount: $29,955
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: Brown bear (Ursus arctos)
Conservation status: Least concern
Disciplines: Population ecology, animal welfare science, human-wildlife conflict
Research location: Turkey
Project summary
Brown bears play a prominent role in the ecosystems of northern and eastern Turkey. However, there are serious long-term threats to their welfare and viability that are common to other large omnivores, such as habitat fragmentation and increasing contact with humans. For example, open garbage dumps are located across the bear’s distribution and affect behavioral patterns in bears, including seasonal migration habits, whereby the bears would normally move into different areas to exploit seasonal resources. This project will involve a collaboration with KuzeyDoga, one of the only nature conservation NGOs in Turkey, to monitor the behavior and stress physiology of individual free-living bears using GPS collars, camera traps, and blood and fecal glucocorticoids (GCs). The location and behavior data will allow them to document what stimuli individual bears have been exposed to (e.g. use of garbage dumps, proximity to roads), and when. This information can then be paired with the GC results to better understand the welfare implications of those exposures. The study of wild bears will also be complemented by the same physiological measurements on bears residing at a rehabilitation center in the region, which come from a similar genetic and early-life background to the free-living bears.
Why we funded this project
This project addresses our objective of validating non-invasive physiological welfare indicators (e.g. fecal GCs) against behavior and known environmental stressors. The pairing of wild and captive (rescued/rehabilitated) individuals is also notable because the captive individuals can serve as a sort of control group due to their controlled environment at the rehabilitation center. Although brown bears in Turkey are not as numerous as some other species we tend to prioritize research on, they and the threats they face are ecologically similar to those faced by most bears worldwide, especially North American black bears, who number many hundreds of thousands. Therefore, we expect the findings of this project to be at least partially generalizable to more than one million potentially long-lived individuals.
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Investigating ways to assess and improve the welfare of leopards captured in response to conflict, in Nepal
Grantee: Jessica Bodgener
Institutions: University of Kent, Wildlife Vets International
Project summary
In Nepal, the successful recovery of tiger populations is displacing leopards from protected parks and forcing them into urban areas. This has caused an increase in conflict with people and farmed animals. Organizations responding to conflicts have limited resources and must attempt to balance animal welfare and conservation aims with public safety and sociopolitical demands. This has resulted in an ad hoc approach, with frequent interventions but little opportunity to evaluate their success. This project will focus on validating non-invasive post-release monitoring techniques, including photogrammetric assessment of body condition and measurement of hair cortisol from fecal samples, to monitor the welfare impact of translocation of leopards away from conflict areas.
Grantee: Jessica Bodgener
Institution: University of Kent and Wildlife Vets International, United Kingdom
Grant amount: $16,850
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: Leopard (Panthera pardus)
Conservation status: Vulnerable
Disciplines: Wildlife rehabilitation, animal welfare science
Research location: Nepal, United Kingdom
Project summary
Leopards are the most widespread and adaptable of the world’s big cats, occupying a wide variety of habitats ranging from remote rainforests to busy urban centers. In Nepal, the successful recovery of tiger populations is displacing leopards from protected parks and forcing them into more populated areas. Low densities of natural prey in these areas, coupled with an abundance of easily hunted feral dogs around settlements, have resulted in leopards colonizing urban and suburban environments. This has caused an increase in conflict with people, including the predation of farmed animals and occasional human attacks. Organizations responding to conflict events have limited resources and must attempt to balance animal welfare and conservation aims with public safety and sociopolitical demands. This has resulted in an ad hoc approach, with frequent interventions, but little to no opportunity to reflect and evaluate the impact or success of these actions. This project will focus on validating entirely non-invasive post-release monitoring techniques, including photogrammetric assessment of body condition and measurement of hair cortisol from fecal samples, to monitor the impact of translocation of leopards away from conflict areas on their health and welfare.
Why we funded this project
We funded this project because it addresses two of our research priorities by seeking to validate non-invasive monitoring techniques, including hair cortisol as a measurement of chronic stress (which may be more informative of welfare than short-term measures of stress physiology). Although it focuses on leopards, the validation of these methods should be transferable to other species. The researcher, Jess Bodgener, also seems to have a long-term interest in wild animal welfare, and has genuine partnerships in place to build capacity and regard for wild animal welfare in Nepal.
WellSeal: Non-invasive quantification of welfare in lactating harbour seals
Grantee: Jess Harvey-Carroll
Institution: University of Gothenburg
Project summary
Limited availability of harbor seal birthing sites leads to intraspecific competition, forcing mothers to choose when and for how long to forage, and resulting in trade-offs between maternal and offspring welfare. These trade-offs may be exacerbated by fishing, as harbor seals swim large distances to obtain food. This project will use camera trap footage and 3D modeling to assess the influence of maternal welfare on time spent away from pups, and pup welfare during periods of maternal absence. Welfare will be assessed based on body condition, an index of the optimality of haul-out position, and a record of positive and negative interactions. The assessment will be aggregated at colony level to compare welfare between colonies with varying access to food.
Grantee: Jess Harvey-Carroll
Institution: University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Grant amount: $30,000
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina)
Conservation status: Least concern
Disciplines: Population ecology, animal behavior, animal welfare science
Research location: Sweden
Project summary
Harbor seals require locations protected from adverse weather and other disturbances during the birthing season, when vulnerable pups are left on land while mothers forage. The limited availability of such sites leads to high intraspecific competition, in which larger seals are likely to dominate more desirable locations due both to their physical strength and their lower need to forage. Mothers must choose when and for how long to forage, leading to trade-offs between maternal and offspring welfare which may lay the foundation for the welfare of younger generations. Currently, little information is available on time spent foraging during the lactation period. As harbor seals are facing unprecedented stress from overfishing, seals are swimming increasingly large distances to obtain food. It is not known how this change affects the trade-off between maternal foraging and offspring care, and the resulting welfare of the pups. This project will use camera trap footage and state-of-the-art 3D modeling to non-invasively assess the influence of maternal welfare on the time spent away from the pups. Pup welfare during periods of maternal absence will also be assessed. Welfare will be assessed in terms of the Five Domains framework, based on individual body condition (health), an index of the optimality of their haul-out position (environment), and a record of positive and negative interactions (behavior). Such welfare assessment will be aggregated at a colony level to compare welfare between colonies with more and less access to food.
Why we funded this project
We funded this project because it seeks to evaluate welfare impacts of population density — likely a common cause of welfare issues — in a relatively abundant species, using a robust approach that is only possible thanks to the species-specific knowledge of the PI and her collaborators. For example, we value their use of image analyses to identify haul-out site suitability and welfare impacts on a fine spatial scale that takes into account both environmental and social factors. We also valued the focus on juvenile welfare and the conflict of interest that may arise between parent and offspring. Improving our understanding of the fundamental relationships between population density, parental care, and juvenile welfare will allow the results of this project to extend to other contexts.
Improving the welfare of translocated individuals - European mink as a case study
Grantee: Maria Diez Leon
Institution: University of London
Project summary
This project will assess how levels of two behaviors thought to track positive and negative welfare states — play behaviors and abnormal repetitive behaviors — influence post-release welfare metrics in two on-going reintroduction programs for the European mink. Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels will be measured to validate these behavioral indicators pre- and post-release. By differentially raising mink in conditions known to improve welfare, the researchers will investigate whether captive environments that promote play and decrease abnormal repetitive behaviors improve pre-release and post-release welfare, whether individual welfare state pre-release correlates with post-release welfare outcomes, and how the welfare of captive-born individuals differs from that of wild-born individuals.
Grantee: Maria Diez Leon
Institution: University of London, United Kingdom
Grant amount: $28,965
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: European mink (Mustela lutreola)
Conservation status: Critically endangered
Disciplines: Wildlife rehabilitation, animal welfare science
Research location: Spain
Project summary
Conservation breeding programs do not proactively consider or even assess welfare across all stages, nor track the welfare of released individuals. We therefore lack data on how individual welfare state pre-release might affect welfare post-release. This project aims to fill the gap by assessing how levels of two behaviors thought to track positive and negative welfare states — play behaviors and abnormal repetitive behaviors — influence post-release welfare metrics in two on-going reintroduction programs for the European mink, and compare the welfare of released minks to individuals in an established “benchmark” wild population. Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels will also be measured to validate these behavioral indicators pre- and post-release. By differentially raising mink in conditions known to improve welfare, the researchers will investigate whether captive environments that promote play and decrease abnormal repetitive behaviors improve pre-release and post-release welfare, whether individual welfare state pre-release correlates with post-release welfare outcomes, and how the welfare of captive-born individuals differs from that of wild-born individuals.
Why we funded this project
We are interested in the comparison of long-term welfare outcomes between individuals born and protected in captivity and individuals born in the wild, which can help us understand how welfare issues differ between captive and wild environments and how much early-life experiences influence long-term welfare. The project’s objective of identifying improvements for the early-life care of animals who are to be released into the wild also helps us assess “headstarting,” a practice in which juveniles of a species are reared in captivity before being released at a less dangerous life stage, as a near-term intervention for improving the lifetime welfare of animals who have vulnerable juvenile stages but are relatively long-lived as adults. Finally, the applicant has a background in conservation but has demonstrated a long-term interest in wild animal welfare, such as attending an April 2022 workshop on animal sentience (LSE/Rethink Priorities).
Find Maria’s other project, studying American minks and Eurasian otters, here.
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Developing a consensus profile of wild animal welfare: integrating non-invasive monitoring of the gut microbiome with stress physiology and behavior
Grantee: Sam Sonnega
Institution: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Project summary
This project will characterize the gut microbiome of white-footed mice and investigate its relationship with their stress physiology and behavior. Mice will be trapped and fecal samples collected to measure glucocorticoid concentrations and gut microbiome composition. Concurrently, open-field trials will be conducted to assess individual variation in cognitive bias. Perception of predation risk will also be experimentally manipulated by exposing mice to playbacks of predator noises. By correlating the gut microbiome with behavioral and endocrine metrics, a consensus profile of the mice’s welfare will be developed that reflects the complexity of their responses to environmental perturbations, and how those responses can scale up to population and ecosystem level changes via the demographic effects of stress in a “landscape of fear.”
Grantee: Sam Sonnega
Institution: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, United States
Grant amount: $29,130
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: White-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus)
Conservation status: Least concern
Disciplines: Physiology, animal welfare science, animal behavior
Research location: United States
Publications
Sonnega, S. and Sheriff, M.J. (2024). Harnessing the gut microbiome: a potential biomarker for wild animal welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2024.1474028
Project summary
This project will characterize the gut microbiome of wild white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and investigate its relationship with their stress physiology and behavior, including how it changes in response to ecological pressures. While a growing literature from lab-based studies has demonstrated the link between the gut microbiome and regulation of host physiology and behavior, the generality of these findings in ecological contexts remains largely untested. As part of this project, mice will be trapped during different seasons and fecal samples will be collected from which to measure both glucocorticoid concentrations and gut microbiome composition. Concurrently, open-field trials will be conducted to assess individual variation in cognitive bias towards optimism or pessimism (a well-established behavioral indicator of affective state). The mice’s perception of predation risk will also be experimentally manipulated by exposing free-living mice to playbacks of predator noises. By correlating the gut microbiome with both behavioral and endocrine metrics, a consensus profile of the mice’s welfare will be developed that reflects the complexity of their responses to both predictable and unpredictable environmental perturbations, and how those responses can scale up to population and ecosystem level changes via the demographic effects of stress in a so-called “landscape of fear.”
Why we funded this project
We are interested in the development and validation of the gut microbiome as a welfare indicator. Every additional indicator strengthens the interpretation of others, but understanding the gut microbiome may be especially important because it is part of the causal chain linking what is going on in the animal’s brain to fecal metabolites, which are often analyzed as a non-invasive and time-integrated record of physiological stress. This project also links and builds on other gut microbiome research we have funded (by Melissa Bateson, Pablo Capilla-Lasheras, and Davide Dominoni).
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Assessing the Welfare of Wild Olive Baboons (Papio anubis) at the Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project, Laikipia, Kenya
Grantee: Monica Wakefield
Institution: Northern Kentucky University and Iowa State University
Project summary
This project aims to assess the welfare of wild baboons using a holistic approach. The study takes advantage of almost 40 years of long-term ecological, demographic, health, and behavioral information on >170 individually known baboons, and will examine how various factors such as age, sex, and social rank correlate with individual welfare measures such as incidence of injury and disease, body mass, and pro-social or agonistic behaviors. The annual scale of the dataset will also enable the researchers to test how events such as droughts have affected welfare during specific periods, and how these effects may have varied according to individual animals’ demographic profiles and biographies.
Grantee: Monica Wakefield
Institutions: Northern Kentucky University and Iowa State University, United States
Grant amount: $29,800
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: Wild olive baboon (Papio anubis)
Conservation status: Least concern
Disciplines: Animal welfare science, animal behavior, primatology
Research location: Kenya, United States
Project summary
This project aims to assess the welfare of wild baboons using a holistic approach. The study takes advantage of almost 40 years of long-term ecological, demographic, health, and behavioral information on >170 individually known baboons, and will examine how various factors such as age, sex, and social rank correlate with individual welfare measures such as incidence of injury and disease, body mass, and pro-social or agonistic behaviors. The annual scale of the dataset will also enable the researchers to test how events such as droughts have affected welfare during specific periods, and how these effects may have varied according to individual animals’ demographic profiles and biographies.
Why we funded this project
We are excited by this project’s analysis of a long-term longitudinal dataset because of the importance of understanding how wild animals’ welfare varies with demographic factors such as age and sex, as these groups often face different challenges and have different ecological and behavioral requirements, and negative welfare impacts that fall on young individuals may also have ripple effects throughout their lives. We also appreciate this project’s holistic approach. The long-term monitoring means it is possible to consider not only the usual downstream welfare indicators based on health and behavior, but also upstream factors that might influence them, such as social interactions and exposure to predators.