Conducting research on wild animal welfare? We'd love to hear about your work at the #redCIBA conference this September in Zaragoza, Spain. Abstract submissions are due by May 25. Send abstracts to: [email protected] redciba.org

Come work with us! Wide range of topics: #insect #emotions, #mantis stereo #vision and prey detection, insect active vision, cognition across species in the wild, bee reward perception, insect #attention. If any of that appeals, get in touch! #fellowships #postdoc (p.s. It's beautiful up North!)

Thanks to @wildanimals.bsky.social for the funding and this beautiful coverage of our work. Very exciting to be taking these ideas out into the field. Sarah has been absolutely brilliant and the results are coming in- watch this space for more!

With funding from Wild Animal Initiative, @viveknityananda.bsky.social and Sarah Scott are conducting the first study of the affective states of wild bumblebees. Learn more 👇️

Sitting at the intersection of ecology and wildlife management, urban coyote research is a productive place for wild animal welfare theory and intervention to meet.

We'll be at the #redCIBA conference in Zaragoza, Spain on September 23–25 this year, where we'll be co-organizing a session on wild animal welfare. Abstract submissions are now open — submit yours by May 25! Send abstracts to: [email protected] redciba.org

Our free online research community is home to 600+ wild animal welfare researchers and practitioners. Join today to connect with other scientists around the world interested in understanding and improving the lives of animals in the wild.

🧪📣 New paper! 🧵 @simonliedholm.bsky.social conducted a targeted review of the prevalence of injuries and deformities in wild fish — potentially useful indicators of welfare.

We'll be at the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control's conference in Barcelona this week, where @simonliedholm.bsky.social will be presenting a poster on whether controlling screwworm fertility benefits wild animal welfare. If you're attending, come say hi and check out our poster! 🪰

Leaving work at 4:59 pm on a Friday like 🏃‍♀️💨 This nine-banded armadillo was photographed by our Researcher @dr-bff.bsky.social near her home in Houston, Texas. Enjoy the weekend!

This spring, coyotes may be having litters of pups in your city. We took a look at the welfare threats coyotes might face in cities, and how researchers can help.

Get our monthly highlights to stay up to date on research and developments in wild animal welfare science.

With funding from WAI, Maristela Martins de Camargo of @uspoficial.bsky.social is developing a non-invasive saliva sample collector that can be used to study a range of species in the wild. Learn more 👇️

Interventions in nature can have unintended effects. Here are three approaches to managing wildlife for welfare that can help us ensure that interventions are net positive for all animals in an ecosystem. 🧪 #wildlife #welfare #environment

Only one more day to register for the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control's upcoming conference! 🗓️ April 23–24 📍 Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain 🔗 Registration: buff.ly/ZIMzhtm We're excited to be co-sponsoring this conference — we'll see you there!

Had a fantastic time at the in-person @wildanimals.bsky.social judgement bias meet-up in Bristol yesterday. It was so interesting to hear how everyone's work is progressing, and just look at that weather! ☀️

We're excited to be co-sponsoring the 10th International Conference on Wildlife Fertility Control in Barcelona next month. Register by April 1 to attend! 🗓️ April 23–24 📍 Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona 🔗 Register here:

Join WAI Strategy Researcher @simonliedholm.bsky.social for a discussion of emerging findings in wild animal welfare science and their implications for wildlife management. 🗓️ Tuesday, March 31 ⏰️ 10 am PT/1 pm ET/6 pm BST 🔗 Register here: buff.ly/khTq6bK

Our free online research community is an international network of 500+ wild animal welfare researchers and practitioners. Join to get our listserv emails with research, funding, and career opportunities.

Stay up to date with the latest developments in wild animal welfare science by subscribing to our newsletter.

Here's an easy-to-read blog post about the songbird trap that @verntasco.bsky.social and I designed (in case you don't want to read the journal article!).

Wildlife management aimed at maximizing the welfare of individual animals is a novel idea. How can we ensure it doesn't go wrong? 🧪 #wildlife #animalwelfare #environment

How cost-effective are interventions to improve wild animal welfare? A government program to vaccinate raccoons against rabies offers a glimpse at what’s possible. 🦝

WAI Researcher and Education Specialist @dr-bff.bsky.social's background in biology, ecology, and conservation equipped her with the skills and knowledge she needed to study wild animal welfare. Bonnie shares the story behind her career path in our new blog post.

In a new blog post, we share the strategy behind our decision to join the BAHSCR's Roundtable on Science and Welfare of Animals Involved in Research.

Remotely closing trap for targeted songbird capture 🪶🧪 @dr-bff.bsky.social shares how she developed this bycatch-eliminating trap on @fieldornith.bsky.social's blog. Learn more about the House Sparrow project that Bonnie designed this trap for: www.wildanimalinitiative.org/blog/house-s...

Watching banded mongooses suffer from tuberculosis was a turning point for @dr-bff.bsky.social. Now, wild animal welfare research has led her to a whole field of questions that ecology isn't asking.

🗓️ One week left to apply to be our Services Coordinator! If you're a lab manager, academic program or event coordinator, or early-career researcher passionate about building active and inclusive research communities, we'd love to hear from you.

In 2025, Wild Animal Initiative became a member of the BAHSCR's Roundtable on Science and Welfare of Animals Involved in Research. We're excited about the opportunities this partnership creates 👇️ buff.ly/6aYalMq

This is a time of upheaval in the scientific community. If you’re looking for ways to stay on track in your scientific career without relying on opportunities in government or academia, here are some ideas — including a role that’s open right now at Wild Animal Initiative.

WAI is hiring! If you know anyone who's great at building communities, coordinating programs, & supporting researchers—but doesn't want to be a PI themselves—send them our way. Remote, mission-driven, & a chance to help build a growing scientific field. www.wildanimalinitiative.org/services-coo...

📢 We're hiring! 📢 We're looking for a Services Coordinator to support our research community, managing community platforms and coordinating programs and events. Learn more and apply by March 2: www.wildanimalinitiative.org/services-coo...

🎓Training School: Phylogenetic Study of Affective States Across Species Join us in Thessaloniki, Greece (April 14-15) with experts Liz Paul, Mike Mendl, & László Garamszegi. 💰 16 fully-funded places available! Apply by Feb 23: 🔗 forms.office.com/e/U9jSVsH09S

Wild animal welfare postdoc opportunity! 👇

Don't be put off by the ad saying "UK Students only" - a limited number of scholarships are available for international candidates. So please apply!

🧪🐠 New tool for #wildlife researchers: the Method Finder helps you find non-invasive or minimally invasive methods for your study in #wildlife #biology, #ecology, or #conservation. 3rswildlife.info/method-finder/

We're welcoming Yolanda Eisenstein to our board of directors. Yolanda has dedicated her career in law to speaking up for and protecting animals. We're so grateful that Yolanda is now applying her expertise to guiding our work at Wild Animal Initiative.

Not a member of our research community yet? Join an international network of 500+ wild animal welfare researchers and practitioners. 🧪

We're delighted to welcome @lizspecht.bsky.social to our board of directors! Liz's experience working at the forefront of efforts to accelerate progress in biotechnology makes her a valuable addition to our board.

In case you missed it: Check out our recap of the most exciting wild animal welfare research published in 2025. 🧪🐢 #animalwelfare #research #science #wildlife

Huge thanks to @wildanimalinitv.bsky.social and @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding! #animalwelfare #wildlife #animalbehaviour #conservation

New paper out in @animalecology.bsky.social: Social information about others' affective states in a human-altered world. Link: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... With @jackdawjordan.bsky.social, @margauxvanhussel.bsky.social, Mike Mendl, and @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social

Meet our new board member, Jake Wilson! Jake is an expert in nonprofit finance, and brings years of experience working to help animals. Jake is one of three new members we're welcoming to our board. We're thrilled to have his support in our mission to accelerate science that helps wild animals.

Our Strategy Researcher, @simonliedholm.bsky.social, has never shied away from exploring difficult or unusual questions. Read about his path to WAI and wild animal welfare science 👇

🦠 We know that zoonoses can cause population declines, but how do pathogens impact the welfare of wild animals? 📉 Hirst & Halsey created a severity index that can be used to better understand these impacts. 🧪 Read the open-access paper: buff.ly/yqOnslY #wildlife #animalwelfare

In a new paper in Biology Letters, WAI's @meekl.bsky.social examines the overlooked relationship between affective state and wild animals' responses to environmental change. 🧪 Read the open access paper here: buff.ly/BOG8woU @royalsocietypublishing.org #paper #research #wildlife #animalwelfare

New blog post: 2025 research highlights 🧪 Last year, wild animal welfare researchers broke new ground on: 🦠 Understanding the welfare impacts of zoonotic diseases 🔬 Measuring welfare markers in the wild 🦝 The ethics of wildlife rehabilitation Learn more:

It was wonderful to be invited to @ljmuofficial.bsky.social recently to take part in their symposium on wild #animalwelfare. 🐦‍⬛ Fantastic to hear from WAI grantees about a range of projects on wild birds, great crested newts, and leveraging new technologies to study welfare.

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2026. Considering affective state as a central component of the response of animals to environmental changes #AnimalWelfare url: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article... via @royalsocietypublishing.org