Talk:Wild Animal Initiative

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This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest was declined. Some or all of the changes weren't supported by neutral, independent, reliable sources. Consider re-submitting with content based on media, books and scholarly works.

Hello, I work on the Communications team at WAI and have been asked to request some edits to this page for two reasons: 1) some of the content is no longer accurate and needs updating; and 2) the page currently focuses on our organizational history, with very little information about our programs and work. I am suggesting the following edits to correct this — please let me know if you are able to make them. Thank you!

Update mission

The second sentence of the first paragraph in the History section, stating "Its stated mission is to "understand and improve the lives of wild animals," by studying natural causes of pain and death for animals, such as natural disasters, disease, and starvation" should be changed to "Its stated mission is to "accelerate science that helps wild animals" by conducting research, making grants, and supporting scientists studying wild animal welfare."^[1]
I am requesting this edit because WAI's stated mission is no longer to "understand and improve the lives of wild animals" — the content on their mission page was updated and this sentence is no longer accurate.

Add Organization section

The sentence above about WAI's mission does not really belong in the History section, nor does the additional information I'm going to suggest adding below. I therefore think an Organization section should be added to the page, wherever you think it best fits.

Add additional information to the Organization section

This information should be added after the mission sentence (which can be either in a new Organization section or left in the History section if you do not wish to add an Organization section). Suggested additions: "WAI defines wild animal welfare science as “understanding the subjective experiences of individual wild animals with the goal of improving their welfare.”^[2] And then in a new paragraph: "WAI has three programs, designed to complement each other: research, grants, and outreach.^[3] The research program produces original research in areas that WAI has determined have high potential to advance the field.^[4] WAI’s staff researchers have published papers on juvenile welfare,^[5] wildlife contraception,^[6] and other topics related to wild animal welfare science. [new paragraph] The grants program “funds academic research on high-priority questions in wild animal welfare,”^[7] with $4.7 million awarded to 72 projects since 2023.^[8] [new paragraph] The outreach program supports researchers’ professional needs through activities like proposal review, career advising, and events.^[9]
The sentence describing WAI's definition of wild animal welfare science may be necessary because it is not an established field for which there is a clear or commonly known definition, and this information helps to clarify WAI's mission. The sentences describing WAI's programs are necessary because they provide information about what WAI does — something currently missing from the page.

Update Reception section

I am suggesting an additional sentence at the end of this section: "WAI retained its “recommended” charity status in 2024 and 2025.^[10]"
This edit is necessary because the information in this section is not up to date — it covers ACE's 2023 recommendation of WAI, but does not account for their most recent recommendation in 2025.

Thank you for considering and please let me know if you need further information.

Writingtoad (talk) 12:54, 31 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

Not done The proposed additions rely mainly on the organization's own website and other primary/self-published sources. WP:SECONDARY, article content should be based primarily on reliable secondary sources.

◦ Sibshops (talk) 13:25, 31 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for the update. The article already relies almost entirely on the organization's own website and primary/self-published sources — see references 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9 especially. For the mission update, in particular, I am suggesting using the same source that is already being used for the current version of that sentence. Could you explain why it is possible for the current article to use those sources, but not the suggested updates? Writingtoad (talk) 13:33, 31 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

You are right that the current article relies heavily on primary sourcing, and that sourcing should be improved. However, adding additional content based primarily on the organization's own website would further increase that.

If you can provide independent secondary sources covering WAI's mission, programs, or evaluation, those would support adding or updating this content.

WP:PRIMARYCARE is a helpful essay for understanding what is permitted under WP:SECONDARY. ◦ Sibshops (talk) 13:51, 31 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for the explanation — I will see what I can find in the way of independent secondary sources and get back to you.

In the meantime, would it possible to make only the first suggested edit? This is not adding additional content but changing the sentence to accurately reflect what is written on the page it already links to.

See below for the edit I mean:

Update mission

The second sentence of the first paragraph in the History section, stating "Its stated mission is to "understand and improve the lives of wild animals," by studying natural causes of pain and death for animals, such as natural disasters, disease, and starvation" should be changed to "Its stated mission is to "accelerate science that helps wild animals" by conducting research, making grants, and supporting scientists studying wild animal welfare."

I am requesting this edit because WAI's stated mission is no longer to "understand and improve the lives of wild animals" — the content on their mission page was updated and this sentence is no longer accurate.

There is no need to update the reference as the source has not changed. ~2026-19951-26 (talk) 13:59, 31 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

It may be better to remove the mission sentence unless and until it can be supported by independent secondary sources. In addition to being based on a primary source, the material may also be too promotional or self-serving for use under WP:ABOUTSELF. ◦ Sibshops (talk) 14:20, 31 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

Add topic

[1] ttps://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/mission

[2] ttps://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/blog/core-concepts-wild-animal-welfare-science

[3] ttps://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/mission

[4] ttps://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/research

[5] ttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12769

[6] ttps://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/74/10/695/7754873?login=false

[7] ttps://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/grants

[8] ttps://animalcharityevaluators.org/charity-review/wild-animal-initiative/

[9] ttps://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/outreach]

[10] ttps://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/announcing-our-2025-charity-recommendations/

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