Wildlife Technology
Using technology and innovation to solve problems facing, and caused by, wildlife
The problem
From climate change to urbanization, ocean acidification to plastic pollution, our activities affect the quality of life in the wild in ways we are only just beginning to be able to measure. Many of these changes push humans and animals closer together, which creates or exacerbates challenges: wild animals eat our crops, spread diseases, kill livestock, and damage infrastructure. These multifaceted problems are usually examined from the perspective of conservation or human wellbeing, but real solutions can only come from considering wildlife and people at the same time – and the infrastructure for understanding wild animal welfare is stuck in the basic science phase.
To address this, we identify high-priority problems that research can solve, then incubate and run coordinated programming to bring the idea to reality.
Current priorities
We have several programs in different stages of scoping. Some examples include:
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1.Rodent fertility control{{ caret0 }}
Addressing the limitations of existing rodent control products by developing a solution that is safe for people as well as the environment, humane for rodents and other wildlife, and actually works against the forces of compensatory mortality and immigration – two factors that have limited the success of rodenticides to date.
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2.Welfare indicator development{{ caret1 }}
Extending the feasibility of animal welfare assessment in the wild by developing three to five indicators that work across a large taxonomic category (e.g., all mammals), can be deployed in the field at reasonable cost, and integrate welfare over a meaningful portion of an animal's lifespan (e.g., at least 10%).
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3.Wildlife vaccination{{ caret2 }}
Identifying and developing treatment for a disease that affects significant numbers of wild animals, causes a threat to human health or economic interests, and is ecologically safe to address.
Supporting our work
The Wildlife Technology Fund is primarily supported by the Centre for Effective Altruism and is a Fund of Renaissance Philanthropy. If you’d like to support our work, contact us.
If you’re a scientist with an interest in one of our program areas, you can let us know by filling out this form.