Bridging the Divide
How Biologist-Veterinarian Collaboration Is Revolutionizing Wildlife Care
The Collaboration Gap: Why Wildlife Falls Through the Cracks
A divided approach has been the troubling reality in wildlife conservation and research for decades.
"Falling through the cracks: shortcomings in the collaboration between biologists and veterinarians and their consequences for wildlife" 2
A seminal paper published in the ILAR Journal perfectly captured this problem. The author presented a compelling case that despite successful partnerships in areas like disease management and conservation biology, examples of shared efforts to evaluate and ensure the welfare of study animals were mostly absent 2 .
This critical gap stems from a fundamental misunderstanding between fields. Biologists often assume veterinarians have the final word on animal welfare, while veterinarians presume biologists are addressing these concerns through their ecological work. The reality is that neither field contains all the knowledge and skills required to address animal welfare concerns alone 2 .
Biologists' Perspective
Focus on ecology, behavior, and population dynamics, often assuming veterinarians handle welfare concerns.
Veterinarians' Perspective
Focus on individual animal health and treatment, often assuming biologists address ecological welfare aspects.
The Gap
Wildlife falls through disciplinary cracks, with neither field fully addressing comprehensive welfare needs.
A New Era of Interdisciplinary Partnership
Across the globe, a revolution is underway as biologists and veterinarians recognize that protecting wildlife requires combining their expertise.
Wildlife Futures Program
Launched in 2019 as a partnership between Penn Vet and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the program explicitly brings together experts across disciplines to conduct "wildlife health surveillance, research, and outreach to inform and improve wildlife management" 5 .
Their work includes investigating disease impacts, analyzing transmission pathways, and exploring the application of working dogs for wildlife research—all requiring close collaboration between ecological and veterinary sciences 5 .
Wild Animal Initiative
This research organization focused on wild animal welfare has made interdisciplinary collaboration a cornerstone of its funding strategy. In their 2025 grants program, they specifically required that projects awarded their top-tier "Challenge Grants" must include "at least one team member with a background in ecological science, and at least one project member with a background in animal welfare science" 1 .
Shared Responsibility
This intentional integration of disciplines reflects a growing recognition that animal welfare is a shared responsibility that benefits from multiple perspectives 2 . As one article on scientific collaboration noted, "Progress doesn't happen in isolation; it's fueled by collaboration" 8 .
Collaboration Benefits:
- Comprehensive wildlife health assessment
- Improved research methodologies
- Enhanced conservation outcomes
Inside a Groundbreaking Study: Measuring Marmot Stress
To understand how these collaborations work in practice, let's examine a specific research project that embodies this interdisciplinary approach.
The Marmot Adversity Project
Dr. Daniel T. Blumstein at the University of California, Los Angeles, is leading a study titled "Does DNA methylation reflect environmental and social adversity?" This research, funded by a Wild Animal Initiative Challenge Grant, investigates how early life experiences affect the welfare of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) 1 .
Behavioral Observations
Physiological Measures
Aging Biomarkers
Methodology: A Multi-Faceted Approach
The research team employs a comprehensive, integrated methodology that combines ecological observation with veterinary diagnostic techniques:
Behavioral Observations
Researchers document wariness indicators including flight initiation distance, time allocated to vigilance while foraging, and propensity to emit alarm calls while foraging 1 .
Physiological Stress Measures
The team collects multiple biomarkers: fecal glucocorticoid levels (stress hormones) and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratios (immune response indicators) 1 .
Aging Biomarkers
Finally, they analyze telomere length (cellular aging indicator) and DNA methylation (epigenetic changes) 1 .
Results and Analysis: Connecting Experience to Health
While specific results from this ongoing study aren't available in the search results, the methodology reveals how the research team is working to connect early life experiences with long-term welfare outcomes.
Potential Correlations Between Adversity and Welfare Indicators
Preliminary data would likely show correlations between the adversity index and the various behavioral and physiological indicators.
Key Research Tools in Wildlife Welfare Assessment
Essential tools and techniques mentioned across interdisciplinary wildlife welfare studies
| Tool/Technique | Primary Function | Field of Origin | Collaboration Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stand-off Raman spectroscopy | Non-invasive hormonal level assessment from a distance | Veterinary Diagnostics |
|
| Fecal glucocorticoid analysis | Measure stress hormone levels | Veterinary Physiology |
|
| Telomere length measurement | Assess cellular aging | Molecular Biology |
|
| DNA methylation analysis | Evaluate epigenetic changes | Genetics |
|
| Behavioral ethograms | Quantify wariness and vigilance behaviors | Ecology |
|
| Thermal imaging | Estimate basic survival costs in birds | Ecological Energetics |
|
| Machine learning algorithms | Automate behavioral welfare assessment in fish | Computer Science |
|
Interdisciplinary Innovation
Each of these tools represents a fusion of ecological understanding with technological innovation—a blend made possible through interdisciplinary collaboration.
The Ripple Effects of Collaboration
When biologists and veterinarians collaborate effectively, they create positive ripple effects throughout conservation and wildlife management.
Improving Research Quality
Traditional "invasive" wildlife research methods that cause significant stress or discomfort to animals may not only harm welfare but potentially skew research results 2 . By combining veterinary expertise in animal handling and pain management with biological knowledge of natural behavior and ecology, researchers can develop less intrusive methods that produce more reliable data while minimizing harm to study animals 2 .
Strengthening Conservation Outcomes
The integration of veterinary and biological perspectives is particularly crucial in addressing complex challenges like disease management in wild populations. The Wildlife Futures Program demonstrates this through its focus on both the ecological transmission pathways of diseases and the clinical impacts on individual animals 5 . This comprehensive approach leads to more effective management strategies that benefit both individual welfare and population health.
Developing Innovative Technologies
Collaboration sparks innovation, as evidenced by several cutting-edge projects funded by the Wild Animal Initiative. These include developing an open-source aquatic camera system that uses machine learning to automatically assess fish welfare non-invasively, adapting Raman spectroscopy to measure hormonal levels in wild animals from a distance, and combining thermal imaging with environmental data to understand energy metabolism in wild birds 1 .
The Path Forward: Building a More Collaborative Future
Despite promising developments, significant barriers to collaboration remain. Overcoming these challenges requires intentional effort.
Strategies for Success
Integrated Training Programs
Educational institutions should develop programs that expose students to both ecological and veterinary perspectives from the beginning of their training.
Cross-Disciplinary Funding Initiatives
Funding organizations should continue to follow the Wild Animal Initiative's model of explicitly requiring interdisciplinary teams for wildlife welfare research 1 .
Shared Professional Spaces
Conferences and journals that welcome both biologists and veterinarians can facilitate the exchange of ideas and methodologies. The PHAIR Society's Animal Advocacy Conference provides one model of creating spaces where different professional communities can connect 6 .
Practical Collaboration Frameworks
Organizations like Ethos Discovery have demonstrated success with an "agnostic to the source of good ideas" approach that focuses on outcomes rather than disciplinary ownership 3 .
As one observer of scientific collaboration noted, "In times of crisis, our greatest strength lies in collective action" 8 . With wildlife facing unprecedented threats from habitat loss, climate change, and emerging diseases, the need for collaborative approaches has never been more urgent.
From Cracks to Bridges
The historical gap between biologists and veterinarians has indeed allowed countless wild animals to "fall through the cracks" of our conservation and research efforts. But across the scientific landscape, a new paradigm is emerging—one that recognizes wildlife welfare as a shared responsibility requiring shared expertise.
From the Galápagos Islands where researchers are integrating behavioral and physiological indicators to assess finch chick welfare 1 , to the mountains of Colorado where marmots reveal the long-term impacts of early adversity 1 , biologists and veterinarians are building bridges across the disciplinary divide.
As the author of the seminal paper that identified this problem concluded, by "viewing animal welfare as a shared responsibility and combining their knowledge and skills, wildlife biologists and veterinarians have an opportunity to reform wildlife research in a manner that is less harmful to the animals being studied, less likely to bias research results, and less objectionable to stakeholders" 2 .
The path forward is clear: when we bridge the divide between disciplines, we don't just advance science—we create a better future for wildlife everywhere.