The welfare of wild animals is poorly understood, having received little research up until recently despite their vast numbers. One of the few things we can say with confidence is that only a small minority of all wild animals who are born survive to adulthood. Death often entails extreme suffering; and for those individuals who die young, the process of dying may comprise a significant proportion of their lifetime. 

Understanding how and why wild animals die is therefore crucial for understanding the current state of welfare in nature, as well as identifying ways to improve it.

To provide the most value for understanding the welfare of individual wild animals, a few shifts in approach are recommended relative to most past research on the topic, including a focus on species with the largest population sizes, as well as on juvenile animals and the causes of death that most commonly affect them. Ultimately, reliable data on cause-specific mortality rates for specific populations can be incorporated into ‘multiple decrement life tables’ to identify opportunities for improving wild animal welfare by averting early deaths by a specific cause or substituting a less painful manner of death for another.

Because the field has been relatively neglected, there is plenty of opportunity for applying the current best practices to new species and ecosystems, or developing new methods.