Wild animal welfare is the welfare of non-human animals under natural conditions, and the study of interventions aimed at improving the welfare of these animals.
Wild animals outnumber animals in factory farms by several orders of magnitude.[1] Despite this, the welfare of animals in the wild has received very limited attention. A comprehensive online bibliography in this area lists about fifty publications, most of which are published online or in relatively unknown journals.[2] Wild animal welfare is thus a highly important and neglected focus area.[3]
As of yet, there have been no serious attempts to improve wild animal welfare, perhaps because this appears to have low tractability. However, some in the effective altruism community have argued that tractability is higher than it might first appear.[4] Proposed interventions include advocacy for wild animals and research into potential solutions.[5]