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Unit of study_
WILD3002: Wildlife Health and Welfare
2026 unit information
What do we mean when we talk about wildlife health and welfare? Modern human societies increasingly place value on the health and welfare of individual wild animals and populations. Wildlife practitioners and other stakeholders also recognise that the health of wild animal populations, people and domestic animals, and the environment are inextricably linked and interdependent, i.e. the One Health framework. Yet there is no single, universally shared definition for wildlife health, or wildlife welfare. This unit of study will challenge students to explore key concepts in wildlife health and welfare, including the difficulty in defining and measuring wildlife health and welfare from both a scientific and social perspective. Students will gain first-hand practical experience in common wildlife sampling and laboratory techniques used to evaluate wildlife health. They will understand the importance of engaging multidisciplinary teams in wildlife health investigations, and the role of a wildlife biologist in those teams. They will employ established tools for assessing wild animal welfare within different contexts (e.g. captive and exhibited animals, wild animal research, pest species management), and will acquire the essential critical thinking skills required to evaluate their results from different stakeholder perspectives and consider the importance of context when evaluating wildlife health and welfare. This unit will be taught on campus at the University fo Sydney and at Taronga Conservation Society, with additional in-class and/or weekend field-trips within commuting distance from the Sydney Camperdown campus. Risk assessments are regularly conducted for units that require the completion of compulsory learning activities that may expose students to zoonotic diseases. These assessments aim to identify appropriate risk mitigation controls, such as vaccination against vaccine- preventable zoonoses. Vaccination against Q fever (Coxiella burnetii) is an inherent requirement for students enrolling in this unit of study. Students must be vaccinated against Q fever before commencing the unit or no later than week one of the enrolled teaching session. Q fever vaccination is only available in Australia with the vaccination process taking three weeks to complete. Students must also submit a Q fever Vaccination Declaration upon enrolment. Students who fail to receive vaccination by the specified deadline and/or submit a Q fever Vaccination Declaration are precluded from practical learning activities and will not be able to satisfactorily complete relevant units of study and/or progress in their course more generally. Please refer to the University’s website https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/q-fever-vaccinations.html for more information on student vaccinations.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Science
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Life and Environmental Sciences Academic Operations |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
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WILD2001 and WILD2002 and (6 credit points from BIOL2X21 or BIOL2X22 or BIOL2X24) |
|---|---|
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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WILD4002 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
The learning outcomes for this unit will be available two weeks before the first day of teaching.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
There are no availabilities for this year.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Intensive June - July 2026
|
Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
There are no availabilities for previous years.
Find your current year census dates
Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
Important enrolment information
Departmental permission requirements
If you see the ‘Departmental Permission’ tag below a session, it means you need faculty or school approval to enrol. This may be because it’s an advanced unit, clinical placement, offshore unit, internship or there are limited places available.
You will be prompted to apply for departmental permission when you select this unit in Sydney Student.
Read our information on departmental permission.
Additional advice
For students in the Bachelor of Wildlife Conservation (Taronga) only