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Assess welfare across the entire project, not just whether a created animal is born or survives. Account for the animals being created, egg or cell donors, gestational surrogates, animals involved in rearing, and animals that could be affected by a release. Before breeding begins, define how each animal’s physical and psychological needs will be met, how harm will be detected, and what will happen if the project cannot provide humane care.
Start by defining what the project is meant to do
Write down the creation method—such as cloning, genome engineering or selective breeding—the source and surrogate animals involved, the conservation objective, and the planned destination for the resulting animals. A project that expects to keep animals in managed care has different welfare questions from one that proposes release, so make that distinction explicit.
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The IUCN SSC uses the term proxy species for organisms created to represent extinct species. The term matters: a proxy is not necessarily a faithful genetic, behavioral or ecological recreation of the extinct form. Assess the animals and outcomes the project can actually produce rather than assuming equivalence.
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Map every animal and stage that could be affected
Make an animal-by-stage inventory before judging risks. IUCN SSC Guiding Principle 31 says: “All efforts should be made to minimise the suffering of individuals, of focal species, of gestational surrogates, and of other affected species, at every stage of the ‘de-extinction’ process.” That scope is broader than the welfare of the intended proxy alone.
#1 Best Overall
| Stage | Animals to include | Welfare questions |
|---|---|---|
| Creating the proxy | Cell or egg donors, source animals, embryos and resulting offspring, as relevant to the method | What procedures, health problems, stress or suffering could occur? How will each animal be assessed and treated? |
| Gestation and birth | Gestational surrogates and offspring | Can the surrogate be monitored and receive appropriate veterinary care? What complications or harm could arise for either surrogate or offspring? |
| Rearing and socialization | Offspring and any animals involved in their care or social learning | Can suitable social conditions, behavior development and species-appropriate care be provided? |
| Captive management | All animals retained in managed care | Can the facility meet their physical and psychological needs for as long as they live, including if release never occurs? |
| Proposed release | Released proxies, related or competing wildlife, and other animals at the site | Could health, disease, behavior or ecological interactions harm the released animals or other animals? |
Judge welfare by quality of life, not technical success
A successful embryo, birth or survival milestone does not by itself establish acceptable welfare. For each affected group, evaluate health, stress, suffering, behavior and whether the animals’ physical and psychological needs can be met. Include the possibility that animals will remain in captivity indefinitely, and assess whether appropriate husbandry, social conditions, expertise and long-term care are realistically available.
The 2016 IUCN SSC Guiding Principles on Creating Proxies of Extinct Species for Conservation Benefit identify cloning, suffering of surrogates, husbandry and survival after release among the relevant concerns. They do not provide one universal numerical risk rate or a single welfare threshold. Do not substitute a general figure for evidence about the particular species, method and care plan.
Compare the proposal with alternatives on the same criteria
Assess claimed conservation benefits alongside welfare costs and uncertainty. Depending on the project’s stated objective, relevant comparisons may include maintaining the source or surrogate species, conventional conservation of extant species, and other ways to achieve that objective. A comparison is useful only if each option is assessed against the same criteria.
| Criterion | Questions to apply to each option |
|---|---|
| Effects on animals | What welfare effects could occur for created animals, donors, surrogates and other affected animals? |
| Care feasibility | Can the animals’ physical and psychological needs be met with available expertise, social conditions and long-term husbandry? |
| Risks if released | What disease, ecological or social risks could arise, and who or what could be affected? |
| Uncertainty and reversibility | What remains uncertain? Can impacts be monitored, and can the decision be reversed or the animals removed if needed? |
| Conservation benefit | How does the expected benefit compare with the stated objective and with the benefits of alternatives? |
This comparison follows the IUCN proxy guidance’s emphasis on costs and benefits against alternative management strategies. It should not assume that a technically achievable project is preferable to a less risky conservation option.
Rank #3
Treat release as a separate decision gate
Moving an animal from captivity into the wild adds risks that a captive-care assessment cannot settle. The IUCN SSC’s 2013 Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations provide a general framework for judging and monitoring translocations; the 2016 proxy-species principles address de-extinction-specific concerns. Before a release, assess:
- Habitat and population prospects: whether the site can support the animals and whether likely population performance is understood.
- Health and disease: potential pathogens affecting the proxies, local wildlife or other animals, and how health will be monitored.
- Behavior and adaptation: whether animals can perform critical behaviors such as foraging, avoiding predators, migrating or breeding, including where those behaviors would normally be learned.
- Ecological and social effects: possible ecosystem changes, hybridization with related species, interactions with people and consequences for other animals.
- Failure scenarios: what happens if animals fare poorly, cause unacceptable impacts or cannot be managed as planned.
The IUCN framework calls for in-depth risk assessment before release. It notes that risks can increase with ecological change, time since extinction, genetic difference and reliance on learned critical behaviors. These factors should inform the assessment; they do not establish a universal prediction for every project.
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A welfare plan should specify how the project will recognize unacceptable harm and what it will do in response. Set the indicators, responsibilities and decision thresholds before breeding or release, rather than choosing them after a problem appears.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →- Assign responsibility for monitoring welfare at each stage, including who can make urgent care or stopping decisions.
- Define observable welfare indicators and thresholds for intervention, pausing work or stopping a stage.
- Identify veterinary capacity, treatment contingencies and the resources needed for ongoing captive care.
- For a proposed release, plan staged evaluation where appropriate, monitor individual post-release health and welfare, and provide for veterinary contingencies.
- Specify an exit strategy: how individuals will be managed or removed if release is unsuitable or unacceptable impacts emerge.
Monitoring is only a safeguard when the project has the capacity and authority to act on what it finds. A plan that detects harm but does not state what happens next leaves the central welfare decision unresolved.
What a general framework can—and cannot—decide
The IUCN publications are guidance, not a project-specific approval or welfare certification. Their principles help structure an assessment, but the actual conclusion depends on the named project, species, creation method, surrogate species, management plan and location. The sources cited here do not establish one universal welfare score, threshold or numerical rate for cloning failure, suffering or post-release survival. Applicable rules also depend on jurisdiction; no location-specific legal determination follows from these general guidelines.
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