Abstract
Wild animals experience different challenges and opportunities as they mature, and this variety of experiences can lead to different levels of welfare characterizing the day-to-day lives of individuals of different ages. At the same time, most wild animals who are born do not survive to adulthood. Individuals who die as juveniles do not simply experience a homogeneous fraction of the lifetimes of older members of their species; rather, their truncated lives may be characterized by very different levels of welfare. Here, I propose the concept of welfare expectancy as a framework for quantifying wild animal welfare at a population level, given individual-level data on average welfare with respect to age. This concept fits conveniently alongside methods of analysis already used in population ecology, such as demographic sensitivity analysis, and is applicable to evaluating the welfare consequences of human interventions and natural pressures that disproportionately affect individuals of different ages. In order to understand better and improve the state of wild animal welfare, more attention should be directed towards young animals and the particular challenges they face.
Highlights
The welfare of domesticated animals has been studied extensively; there is a whole field of veterinary science dedicated to it (Dawkins, 2006; Broom, 2011)
A key objective of the nascent fields of conservation welfare (Beausoleil et al, 2018) and welfare biology (Ng, 1995; Soryl et al, 2021) is to evaluate the quality of lives lived by wild animals in order to identify causes of poor welfare, as well as safe and tractable interventions to improve their welfare
I will explain the need for and describe an approach that takes into account the different levels of welfare wild animals may experience over the course of their lives, helping to evaluate the consequences of human actions and natural pressures that disproportionately affect animals of different ages
Summary
The welfare of domesticated animals has been studied extensively; there is a whole field of veterinary science dedicated to it (Dawkins, 2006; Broom, 2011). It is common to imagine healthy adults acting out the lifestyle to which their species has adapted This is not representative of what most animals experience; in many species, only a minority survive to maturity. Consider the example of the American black bear (Ursus americanus) These animals are capable of long adult lives with liberal access to food and socialization, yet many bears end their lives while still cubs through predation, malnutrition, disease, or even flooding of their natal dens I will explain the need for and describe an approach that takes into account the different levels of welfare wild animals may experience over the course of their lives, helping to evaluate the consequences of human actions and natural pressures that disproportionately affect animals of different ages
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