We present data on two thermal aerial culling operations in Australia. We describe the efficacy of the method for two vertebrate pest species: a low-density (< 0.2 animals km-2) population of feral pigs, and a high-density (> 6 animals km-2) population of feral fallow deer. The pig population had been reduced by 90% during the 2019-2020 bushfires [17, 43] and this presented a unique opportunity to attempt to eradicate the low-density population while vegetation recovery enabled high detectability. We measured several aspects of the approach to test the following hypotheses: (i) the number of shots taken and shots impacting an animal do not vary relative to vegetation-density category (open, sparse, dense) or species (pig, deer), (ii) four temporal welfare indicators (time from start of pursuit to first bullet impact [chase time], time from first bullet impact to incapacitation, time from first shot to incapacitation, time from pursuit to incapacitation) do not vary among vegetation-density categories and species, and (iii) no wounded animals escaped. We also discuss the impact of crew configuration on target acquisition and tracking and the use of thermal technology to mitigate negative animal welfare outcomes. Because we did not inspect carcasses, we could only collect information on wound rate and time to incapacitation.