Publication Abstract

Wildlife health is integral to functioning, complex ecosystems, directly and indirectly influencing the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment. Healthy wildlife populations are essential for ecosystem services and are at the heart of the One Health approach, which aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems through multisectoral and transdisciplinary collaboration.

Despite its importance, wildlife health initiatives often operate in silos, limiting capacity to address transboundary threats such as emerging diseases, pollution and climate change. Anthropogenic changes, including habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, and unsustainable harvesting exacerbate wildlife health challenges [6-9]. These pressures disrupt species biology and alter host-pathogen dynamics [10-12], underscoring the need for coordinated collective action. While local conservation efforts are vital, long-term success in safeguarding biodiversity requires a unified, global network. For instance, without harmonised surveillance and response systems, individual institutions cannot effectively track pathogens across borders or share diagnostic capabilities.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Centre Network for Wildlife Health—WOAH-WILDNet—was established to bridge these gaps. By fostering global collaboration, sharing resources, and enabling data exchange, WOAH-WILDNet provides a transformative, systems-based approach to wildlife health, managing risks, and enhancing ecosystem resilience. Central to this mission is breaking down silos to promote coordinated responses to complex wildlife health challenges.

David T S Hayman, Steve Unwin, Kelly Bateman*, Casey Barton Behravesh, Lotta Berg, Jemma Bergfeld, Cristina Casalone, Erin Davis, Sunday Ekesi, Johan Esterhuizen, Giorda Federica, Keith Hamilton, Damien Joly, Christa Kühn, Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Daniel Masig, Getahun Merid, Anita Michel, Paolo Mulatti, Misheck Mulumba, Annah Njui, Richard Paley*, Antonio Jesús Fernández Rodríguez, Sascha Knauf, David Poumo Tchouassi, Youming Wang, Nathalie Vachiery, Jandouwe Villinger, C. LeAnn White, Frank Wong, Gongxun Zhong, Dharmaveer Shetty