The movement to reduce wild-animal suffering is relatively new (see: Timeline of wild-animal suffering). It was previously the realm of charismatic individuals, with organizations working on the topic being started from 2013 onwards. A course at a top university would constitute a further step towards mainstream acceptance.
When will the first course on wild animal welfare be taught at a top university?
To qualify as a "top", a university needs to be in the top-200 of QS World University Rankings or in the top-200 of QS's rating for biological sciences at the time the course is taught.
This question will resolve as the date the course starts, and retroactively close on the date the course was announced.
If QS stops publishing any of the ratings, a clarification to this question will be made and another major university rating system will be chosen instead.
If the course is first announced, then delayed, then opens, the question retroactively closes on the date the delay was announced.
This question belongs to the Animal Charity Evaluators Strategy series. This is a series of questions intended to introduce Animal Charity Evaluators to the idea of using forecasting as a tool to inform their strategy. The questions were created by Misha Yagudin and Nuño Sempere, in consultation with ACE.
Edit 2020-01-03: added provision that resolve date = class starts and close date = class announced. Also fine-print about delays.