Wildlife contraception is an accepted method for controlling populations of many wild animal species (Kirkpatrick et al. 2011). Although the use of wildlife contraceptives may improve wild animal welfare (see box 1 for our definition of welfare), research related to the welfare impacts of wildlife contraceptives has to date largely been focused on understanding and mitigating harmful side effects (Gray and Cameron 2010), as opposed to identifying and harnessing possible welfare benefits.
