Although the vast majority of animals live in the wild, relatively little is known about their welfare. To understand the unique threats to wild animals’ well-being as individuals and figure out how people can safely and effectively intervene, more research is needed. That’s why their mission is to advance the field of wild animal welfare science.

A discipline focused on wild animal welfare will open doors to new scientific paradigms and ultimately help wild animals. There's an exciting opportunity to explore understudied topics and pursue new angles of scientific inquiry. Research will also directly guide efforts to help wild animals. For example, what helps some wild animals might harm others, and an extensive body of research will help scientists and wildlife managers predict and mitigate those network effects.

Right now, the knowledge gaps are too large for any one research group to fill. To address that, they envision a robust, diverse community of scientists who will find answers to important and urgent questions about wild animal welfare. Together, they’ll make sure this burgeoning discipline flourishes well into the future.

To support that growing community, they conduct scientific research, make grants, and provide career services for scientists studying wild animal welfare. Wild Animal Initiative’s three programs complement each other in this mission.