Several important techniques for managing wildlife rely on ballistics (the behaviour of projectiles), including killing techniques (shooting) as well as capture and marking methods (darting). Because all ballistic techniques have the capacity to harm animals, animal welfare is an important consideration. Standardised testing approaches that have allowed refinement for other physical killing and capture methods (e.g. traps for mammals) have not been applied broadly to ballistic methods. At the same time, new technology is becoming available for shooting (e.g. subsonic and lead-free ammunition) and darting (e.g. dye-marker darts). We present several case studies demonstrating (a) how basic ballistic testing can be performed for novel firearms and/or projectiles, (b) the benefits of identifying methods producing undesirable results before operational use, and (c) the welfare risks associated with bypassing testing of a technique before broad-scale application. Following the approach that has been used internationally to test kill-traps, we suggest the following four-step testing process: (1) range and field testing to confirm accuracy and precision, the delivery of appropriate kinetic energy levels and projectile behaviour, (2) post-mortem assessment of ballistic injury in cadavers, (3) small-scale live animal pilot studies with predetermined threshold pass/fail levels, and (4) broad-scale use with reporting of the frequency of adverse animal welfare outcomes. We present this as a practical approach for maintaining and improving animal welfare standards when considering the use of ballistic technology for wildlife management.

管理野生生物的几种重要技术依赖于弹道学（弹丸的行为），包括杀伤技术（射击）以及捕获和标记方法（飞镖）。由于所有弹道技术都具有伤害动物的能力，因此动物福利是一个重要的考虑因素。允许完善其他物理杀伤和捕获方法（例如，针对哺乳动物的诱捕器）的标准化测试方法尚未广泛应用于弹道方法。同时，新技术也可以用于射击（例如亚音速和无铅弹药）和飞镖（例如染料标记飞镖）。我们提供了一些案例研究，这些研究表明（a）如何对新型枪支和/或弹丸进行基本的弹道测试，（b）在操作使用前确定产生不良结果的方法的好处，以及（c）在大规模应用之前绕过技术测试所带来的福利风险。遵循国际上用于测试诱捕装置的方法，我们建议执行以下四个步骤的测试过程：（1）进行范围和野外测试，以确认准确性和精确性，提供适当的动能水平和弹丸行为，（2 ）尸体弹道损伤的事后评估；（3）具有预定阈值通过/失败水平的小规模活体动物试验研究；以及（4）广泛使用，报告不良动物福利结局的频率。