Wild animal translocations: animal welfare risk assessment guidance

3. Levels of human responsibility

Depending on the stage and reach of any wild animal translocation programme, the level of human responsibility for animal welfare may be different, matched to different levels of intervention or control across time. For example, during the initial translocation phases (such as capture and captivity), humans directly involved in the project should assume full responsibility for the welfare of the individual animals involved. As the programme matures and the animals can live independently in their new habitat, this level decreases until a stable population / ecosystem state is reached where the level of human responsibility becomes minimal and the need for intervention also diminishes. This stage-by-stage approach should also be applied to host populations as much as to the translocated individuals. Thus, for example, the impacts of carnivores on the welfare of prey species should be reviewed throughout the different phases of the project. A suggested schema for this is given in Annex 1, with levels of responsibility decreasing from 3 to 0. Note that in many translocations the level of responsibility will never reach level 0, thus requiring continuing human intervention and responsibility albeit at a low level.