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.
Decoding aquatic mollusk welfare: an investigation of potential physiological and cognitive indicators
Grantee: Laura Webb
Institution: Wageningen University, Netherlnads
Project summary
This project aims to explore physiological and cognitive indicators of welfare in two species of aquatic mollusk: highly mobile cuttlefish (dwarf cuttlefish; Ascarosepion bandense) and sessile (blue) mussels (Mytilus edulis). Valid indicators of mollusk welfare can help us better understand their welfare in changing environmental conditions, such as those associated with climate change. The researchers will explore heart rate variability and respiratory variability as possible physiological indicators, and optimism in a judgment bias test as a cognitive indicator of welfare. Following this, successful metrics can in turn be used to explore the impact of environmental changes on these species' welfare.
Grantee: Laura Webb
Institution: Wageningen University, Netherlands
Grant amount: $10,000
Grant type: Seed grants
Focal species: Bobtail squid (Euprymna berryi), dwarf cuttlefish (Ascarosepion bandense), blue mussel (Mytilus edulis)
Conservation status: Not evaluated
Disciplines: Malacology, cognition, physiology
Research location: Netherlands
Project summary
This project aims to explore physiological and cognitive indicators of welfare in two species of aquatic mollusk: highly mobile cuttlefish (dwarf cuttlefish; Ascarosepion bandense) and sessile (blue) mussels (Mytilus edulis). Valid indicators of mollusk welfare can help us better understand their welfare in changing environmental conditions, such as those associated with climate change. The researchers will explore heart rate variability (mussels) and respiratory variability as possible physiological indicators, and optimism in a judgment bias test as a cognitive indicator of welfare (cuttlefish). Following this, successful metrics can in turn be used to explore the impact of environmental changes on these species' welfare.
Why we funded this project
This project is highly innovative and exploratory in nature, focused on neglected species in welfare research, with sentience accepted for cuttlefish in EU law but not yet for mussels. This work will raise attention to the topic of aquatic mollusk welfare and possible assessment methods in these species.
Introducing a novel tool to compare stress levels in captive and wild Macaca fascicularis
Grantee: Vets4welfare
Institution: Vets4welfare Foundation
Project summary
This project will compare cortisol concentrations in the hair of Indonesian monkeys from three groups: one in the wild, one that has been kept in captivity for the entertainment industry, and one in the process of rehabilitation following rescue from the entertainment industry. The aim of the project is to compare stress responses under wild, poor-welfare captive, and high-welfare captive environments. The hair cortisol data will be compared with veterinary and forensic records and other welfare-relevant observations (e.g. of infections or injuries) where possible. The researchers also intend to determine whether mistreatment in captivity leaves a signal in hair cortisol that could be detected after the fact and used to identify monkeys who have been illegally trafficked.
Grantee: Vets4welfare
Institution: Vets4welfare Foundation, Netherlands
Grant amount: $20,000
Grant type: Small grants
Focal species: Crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis)
Conservation status: Endangered
Disciplines: Physiology, wildlife rehabilitation, human-wildlife conflict
Research location: Indonesia, Netherlands
Project summary
This project will compare cortisol concentrations in the hair of Indonesian monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) from three groups: a group whose members have spent their whole lives in the wild, a group that has been kept in captivity for the entertainment industry, and a group that are in the process of rehabilitation following rescue from the entertainment industry. Hair measurements can reflect welfare over a long period, as they integrate cortisol as they slowly grow. The concentration of cortisol in a segment of a hair is thought to reflect the activity of the animal’s physiological stress response at the time that segment was produced. On that premise, the project aims to compare the stress response of M. fascicularis under wild, poor-welfare captive (entertainment), and high-welfare captive (rehabilitation) environments. The hair cortisol data will be compared with veterinary and forensic records and other welfare-relevant observations (e.g., of infections or injuries) where possible. The researchers also intend to determine whether mistreatment in captivity leaves a signal in hair cortisol that could be detected after the fact and used to identify monkeys that have been illegally trafficked.
Why we funded this project
Although this project focuses narrowly on anthropogenic harms in a particular threatened species, we funded it because their approach is interesting and very similar to one we have been interested in applying to study the welfare of stocked fish (i.e., fish raised in a hatchery and then released into the wild) using biological aging methods, another category of putative welfare indicators that integrate stress over time. Between these two funded studies, we are interested to see 1) how welfare indicators for wild and captive environments of varying quality compare and 2) whether hair cortisol from individuals whose environment changed is consistent (at the corresponding points in time) with that of individuals who were only exposed to one environment or the other. We anticipate that the relationship for the latter question is more complex than described, but investigating it will help us learn more about the validity of hair cortisol measurements and the importance of prior experiences in shaping animals’ stress responses.
