Wild Animal Welfare: Science, Ethics and Law
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 842
Special Issue Editors
Interests: wildlife health; wild animal welfare; conservation; human–animal bond; animal-based indicators
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The welfare of wild animals is a growing public concern, often leading to polarized views. Those driven by conservation perspectives prioritize ecological processes and populations, while those focused on individual animals tend to approach natural processes, such as premature death or predation, as welfare issues to be addressed. Some believe intervention is necessary only when humans cause harm, while others advocate for minimizing suffering whenever possible, regardless of anthropogenic interference. In turn, conservation policies vary greatly between jurisdictions, reflecting cultural and economic priorities, ethical values, and legal frameworks. These conflicting views create challenges in finding One Health/One Welfare approaches that can balance human interests, ecological sustainability, and animal welfare.
This conundrum raises challenging questions: Should all wild animals be considered equally? And if not, where should we draw a line of moral concern? Can we improve the welfare of some wild animals without harming other related animals? How can regulations shape policy and action to reconcile wild animal welfare against the needs of people?
Robust scientific information is crucial for evidence-based decisions and bridging the gaps that fuel polarization. In this Special Issue, we invite submissions of original research on wild animal welfare science, ethics, and law. We also welcome reviews, reflective papers on ethical views or regulatory frameworks, and social science research focusing on captive and free-ranging wildlife, recognizing the importance of diverse approaches in advancing wild animal welfare.
Dr. Alexandre Azevedo
Dr. Manuel Magalhães-Sant'Ana
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- animal welfare
- wildlife
- wild animals
- in situ conservation
- ex situ conservation
- wildlife management
- biodiversity
- predation
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