Meet our grantees
Wild Animal Initiative funds academic research on high-priority questions in wild animal welfare.
The goal of our grants program is to fund research that deepens scientific knowledge of the welfare of wild animals in order to better understand how to improve the welfare of as many wild animals as possible, regardless of what causes the threats to their well-being.
We showcase our grantees and their projects here and continuously update this page as new projects are added.
Developing & refining behavioral assays for the measurement of ‘sentient welfare’ in gastropod molluscs
Grantee: Elizabeth Paul
Institution: University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Project summary
Compared to cephalopod mollusks, gastropod mollusks have been neglected in welfare research and public and legislative concern. This project will develop and refine key assays for the behavioral measurement of welfare in two gastropod species: the great pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis) and the common garden snail (Cornu aspersum). The researchers will study the capacities of snails to experience consequences within two hypothesized domains of affective function: the first relating to a Punishment Avoidance System (associated with an animal’s responses to threats and punishments) and the second to a Reward Acquisition System (associated with an animal’s responses to opportunities and rewards).
Feeling salty: A welfare framework for estuarine fishes
Grantee: Samantha Levell
Institution: New College of Florida, United States
Project summary
Estuaries are highly dynamic environments in which salinity can change rapidly. This project will study how short-term, ecologically realistic salinity shifts influence welfare in estuarine fishes using non-invasive measures such as waterborne cortisol, metabolic rate, exploration, shoaling behavior, and decision making. The project will focus on two common estuarine species: the sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus) and the sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna). By comparing juveniles and adults, the project aims to develop practical tools for assessing fish welfare in the wild and to better understand how environmental variability shapes the experiences of aquatic animals.
Validating acoustic monitoring as a non-invasive welfare indicator in urban coyotes: Linking vocalizations to health status, social dynamics, and environmental quality
Grantee: Caroline Rowley
Institution: Duke University, United States
Project summary
Urban coyotes face welfare challenges including disease, parasites, habitat degradation, reliance on anthropogenic food sources, and stress from human-wildlife conflict. This project is a pilot study aimed at validating passive acoustic monitoring as a welfare assessment tool. Data will be collected via GPS collars fitted with microphones, autonomous recording units, thermal camera traps and biological sampling. Using models and machine learning, the researchers will test whether vocal features correlate with established welfare indicators and whether individual coyotes can be identified from their howls alone. The aim is to develop a scalable, non-invasive framework for monitoring the welfare of free-ranging animals.
Comparative assessment of capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) welfare in protected, semi-anthropized, and anthropized environments in Argentina
Grantee: Débora Silvia Racciatti
Institution: Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Project summary
This project will assess how different levels of human disturbance are associated with behavioral, physiological, and health-related welfare indicators in capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). Using camera traps, direct observations, non-invasive fecal sampling, and body condition assessments, the team will evaluate a suite of indicators and test not only whether they vary in predicted directions across environments, but how consistently they converge across welfare domains, identifying which measures most reliably discriminate conditions of higher versus lower welfare in free-ranging populations.
Assessing anthropogenic fear in a wild decapod crustacean
Grantee: Mark Briffa
Institution: University of Plymouth, United Kingdom
Project summary
This project will investigate whether urban coastal environments alter fear-related behavioral and physiological responses in wild hermit crabs, using two species that differ in their history of exposure to urbanization. Researchers will compare crabs of both species collected from urban and rural shorelines and measure indicators that may be linked to affective state, including startle responses, shell investigation behavior, and resting metabolic rate under field conditions. By repeatedly measuring behavior within individuals, they will also test whether urban disturbance influences behavioral predictability, which may provide additional insight into fear and stress-related processes.
Validating welfare indicators in an arachnid and their relationship to leg loss, a common defense strategy
Grantee: Ignacio Escalante
Institution: University of Illinois, Chicago
Project summary
This project will explore the welfare implications of leg loss, or “autotomy” — a common defensive strategy among animals. The project aims to validate welfare indicators within an understudied group of invertebrates, the Opiliones (Arachnida) in southwestern Costa Rica. Field and lab experiments will be used to test three potential behavioral welfare indicators: 1) movement patterns (approach vs. retreat), 2) speed, and 3) exploratory leg-tapping behaviors (count of leg taps) in response to positively and negatively valanced stimuli. These behaviors will be assessed when individuals are alone, in conspecific aggregations, and in barren versus complex housing. All experiments will include individuals with all legs and those with missing legs to assess how leg condition impacts welfare.
Remote welfare assessment in wildlife using stand-off Raman spectroscopy
Grantees: Jose Gonzalez-Rodriguez and Teresa Romero
Institution: University of Lincoln
Project summary
This project aims to develop a stand-off Raman spectroscopy system as a non-invasive tool to assess hormonal levels in wild animals, which can be integrated into welfare assessments. The project also aims to validate under standardized and natural conditions how biomarkers of long-term stress relate to a range of stressors that may affect wild animal welfare. They will use a combination of socio-positive (e.g., play, grooming) and negative (e.g., aggression, screaming) behaviors, indices of social integration, behavioral indicators of anxiety (i.e., self-directed behaviors), and resting behavior, as well as physical indicators of welfare (body condition, instances of injury).
Assessing the Impact of Ectoparasites on Nestling Welfare: Validating Behavioral and Physiological Indicators in Darwin’s Finches
Grantee: Sabine Tebbich
Institution: University of Vienna
Project summary
Nestling finches are particularly vulnerable to blood-sucking ectoparasites because they lack the ability to preen, dust-bathe, or escape infested nests. Invasive parasites are especially detrimental to bird welfare because naïve hosts lack behavioral adaptations such as nest sanitation or preening, and hosts often suffer from exceptionally high parasite loads. This project aims to integrate behavioral (breathing rate and sleep duration) and physiological (haematocrit, baseline corticosterone, oxidative stress and telomere length) indicators to assess the welfare impact of the bloodsucking larvae of the avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi) on nestlings of Galápagos finches.
A quest for a non-lethal method to assess spiders’ welfare in the urban environment
Grantee: Alessandra Costanzo
Institution: University of Milan
Project summary
This pilot project aims to develop welfare indicators for the orb-weaver spider Araneus angulatus, a species commonly found in urban settings. Juveniles will be exposed to urban stressors such as non-lethal mosquito-repellent pesticides, elevated temperatures simulating the Urban Heat Island effect, and changes in food availability. Once they reach adulthood, the effects of these stressors on individuals will be assessed using physiological (biomarkers of oxidative stress, detoxification, neurotoxicity, and energy metabolism) and morphological (body size, mass, and fluctuating asymmetry) indicators, and behavioral endpoints (prey capture rates and web structure). By integrating these measures, the project aims to triangulate spider welfare across multiple domains and improve our understanding of how urban stressors affect individual well-being.
Examining mechanistic relationships between metabolic rates, wild bird welfare and impacts of selective logging on eastern Himalayan birds
Grantee: Akshay Bharadwaj
Institution: Indian Institute of Science
Project summary
Animals must balance energy spent with energy consumed, and can only persist in habitats that allow for this balance. All warm-blooded animals have a Basic Survival Cost (BSC) required for basal metabolism and thermoregulation. This project aims to understand how basic survival costs (BSC) affect wild bird welfare in the Eastern Himalayas. Using a combination of thermal imaging, respirometry, and ambient-temperature humidity data, we will estimate BSC in free-living birds across habitat gradients. Subsequently, the project will relate the BSC to multiple welfare indicators, allowing a triangulation of a bird's lived experience. By linking energy metabolism with welfare outcomes, this work will provide a novel, mechanistic perspective on wild animal welfare in an understudied tropical system.