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!
The Method Finder and 3rswildlife.info were developed by @miriamzemanova.bsky.social, a fantastic researcher supporting ethical research on wild animals.
We're proud to support Miriam's research on measuring stress levels using fecal glucocorticoids. www.wildanimalinitiative.org/grantees/mir...
🧪🐠 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.
(Our account is run by me, @shannonwrites.bsky.social — I'm a science communicator).
Hello Andrew, would you be able to add us to this feed? We do research and offer grants in wild animal welfare science. We'll share new papers and opportunities/info that might be of interest to researchers on the feed. www.wildanimalinitiative.org
