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.
Evaluating ice nests: Effects of a welfare intervention on long-lived insect societies and their guests
Grantee: Christina Kwapich
Institution: University of Central Florida, United States
Project summary
When social organisms are translocated, the destruction of multi-generational nests, loss of familiar territory, and disruption of demography could negatively influence the welfare of society members, future generations, and dependent symbionts. This project will translocate Florida harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex badius) colonies by burying replica nests made from ice. The team will measure risk-averse behaviors in ants across generations, as well as the stability of colony foraging routes, demography, and the re-colonization of symbiont populations. By monitoring ants in freshly transplanted and historically transplanted colonies, the project will provide data on the effects of social disruption on ant societies.
Grantee: Christina Kwapich
Project start date: December 2026
Institution: University of Central Florida, United States
Grant amount: $10,000
Grant type: Seed grants
Focal species: Florida harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex badius) and others
Conservation status: Not evaluated
Disciplines: Entomology, wildlife management
Research location: United States
Project summary
US laws increasingly require that species of interest be removed from land marked for development and translocated to suitable sites. For social organisms, the destruction of multi-generational nests, loss of familiar territory, and disruption of demography could negatively influence the welfare of surviving society members, future generations, and dependent symbionts. This project will translocate a population of Florida harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex badius) colonies by burying replica nests made from ice. The team will measure risk-averse behaviors in ants across generations, as well as the stability of colony foraging routes, demography, and the re-colonization of symbiont populations. By monitoring ants in freshly transplanted and historically transplanted colonies, the project will provide data on the effects of social disruption on long-lived animal societies made up of short-lived members.
Why we funded this project
The “ice nest” technique represents a welfare intervention that could mitigate some of the negative effects of social disruption associated with research or land development. By publishing on the feasibility of the ice nest technique, social insect well-being may be given serious consideration in future environmental mitigation and research protocols.
Assessing behavioral and physiological welfare indicators for the Kashmir loach (Triplophysa kashmirensis)
Grantee: Misba Rehman
Institution: Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, India
Project summary
This project aims to develop and validate non-invasive behavioral and physiological welfare indicators for the Kashmir loach (Triplophysa kashmirensis). The researchers will use underwater cameras to record behaviors like activity, refuge use, foraging, and abnormal swimming patterns. Physiological welfare will be assessed using mucus sampling to measure cortisol concentrations and supplementary indicators including oxidative stress and immune markers. The team will validate indicators by testing their correlation with key water quality parameters. The project aims to establish the first field-based welfare assessment framework for this species and develop a transferable model for wild freshwater fishes inhabiting mountain stream ecosystems.
Grantee: Misba Rehman
Project start date: June 2026
Institution: Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, India
Grant amount: $6,500
Grant type: Seed grants
Focal species: Kashmir Loach (Triplophysa kashmirensis)
Conservation status: Critically endangered
Disciplines: Ichthyology, physiology, animal behavior
Research location: India
Project summary
This project aims to develop and validate non-invasive behavioral and physiological welfare indicators for the Kashmir loach (Triplophysa kashmirensis), a small benthic freshwater fish endemic to Himalayan streams. Fish will be observed under natural stream conditions, with underwater cameras recording behaviors like activity, refuge use, foraging, and abnormal swimming patterns. Physiological welfare will be assessed using mucus sampling to measure cortisol concentrations and supplementary indicators including oxidative stress and immune markers. Indicators will be validated by testing their correlation with key water quality parameters. By integrating behavioral, physiological, and environmental data, the project aims to establish the first field-based welfare assessment framework for this species and develop a transferable model for wild freshwater fishes inhabiting mountain stream ecosystems.
Why we funded this project
This project contributes to wild animal welfare science by developing and validating a field-applicable, non-invasive framework for assessing welfare in free-living freshwater fishes, a group that remains highly understudied in welfare research.
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
Project start date: September 2026
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.