Global InformationWild animal suffering information
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Wild animal suffering is the suffering experienced by non-human animals living outside of direct human control, due to harms such as disease, injury, parasitism, starvation and malnutrition, dehydration, weather conditions, natural disasters, and killings by other animals,[1][2] as well as psychological stress.[3] Some estimates indicate that these individual animals make up the vast majority of animals in existence.[4] An extensive amount of natural suffering has been described as an unavoidable consequence of Darwinian evolution[5] and the pervasiveness of reproductive strategies which favor producing large numbers of offspring, with a low amount of parental care and of which only a small number survive to adulthood, the rest dying in painful ways, has led some to argue that suffering dominates happiness in nature.[1][6][7]
The topic has historically been discussed in the context of the philosophy of religion as an instance of the problem of evil.[8] More recently, starting in the 19th century, a number of writers have considered the subject from a secular standpoint as a general moral issue, that humans might be able to help prevent.[9] There is considerable disagreement around taking such action, as many believe that human interventions in nature, for this reason, should not take place because of practicality,[10] valuing ecological preservation over the well-being and interests of individual animals,[11] considering any obligation to reduce wild animal suffering implied by animal rights to be absurd,[12] or viewing nature as an idyllic place where happiness is widespread.[6] Some have argued that such interventions would be an example of human hubris, or playing God and use examples of how human interventions, for other reasons, have unintentionally caused harm.[13] Others, including animal rights writers, have defended variants of a laissez-faire position, which argues that humans should not harm wild animals, but that humans should not intervene to reduce natural harms that they experience.[14][15]
Advocates of such interventions argue that animal rights and welfare positions imply an obligation to help animals suffering in the wild due to natural processes. Some have asserted that refusing to help animals in situations where humans would consider it wrong not to help humans is an example of speciesism.[2] Others argue that humans intervene in nature constantly—sometimes in very substantial ways—for their own interests and to further environmentalist goals.[16] Human responsibility for enhancing existing natural harms has also been cited as a reason for intervention.[17] Some advocates argue that humans already successfully help animals in the wild, such as vaccinating and healing injured and sick animals, rescuing animals in fires and other natural disasters, feeding hungry animals, providing thirsty animals with water, and caring for orphaned animals.[18] They also assert that although wide-scale interventions may not be possible with our current level of understanding, they could become feasible in the future with improved knowledge and technologies.[19][20] For these reasons, they claim it is important to raise awareness about the issue of wild animal suffering, spread the idea that humans should help animals suffering in these situations and encourage research into effective measures which can be taken in the future to reduce the suffering of these individuals, without causing greater harms.[6][16]
- ^ a b Tomasik, Brian (2015-11-02). "The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 133–152. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-toma. ISSN 2280-9643.
- ^ a b Faria, Catia; Paez, Eze (2015-05-11). "Animals in Need: the Problem of Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (1): 7–13. ISSN 2280-9643.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:3was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:29was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:26was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Horta, Oscar (2010). "Debunking the Idyllic View of Natural Processes: Population Dynamics and Suffering in the Wild" (PDF). Télos. 17 (1): 73–88.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:27was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ For discussion of wild animal suffering and its relation to the problem of evil see:
- Darwin, Charles (September 1993). Barlow, Nora (ed.). The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: 1809-1882. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 90. ISBN 978-0393310696.
- Lewis, C. S. (2015). The Problem of Pain. HarperOne. ISBN 9780060652968.
- Murray, Michael (April 30, 2011). Nature Red in Tooth and Claw: Theism and the Problem of Animal Suffering. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199596324.
- Gould, Stephen (February 1982). "Nonmoral Nature" (PDF). Natural History. 91 (2): 19–26. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- McMahan, Jeff (2013). "The Moral Problem of Predation" (PDF). In Chignell, Andrew; Cuneo, Terence; Halteman, Matt (eds.). Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments on the Ethics of Eating. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415806831. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
- ^ For academic discussion of wild animal suffering and its alleviation from a secular standpoint see:
- McMahan, Jeff (2013). "The Moral Problem of Predation" (PDF). In Chignell, Andrew; Cuneo, Terence; Halteman, Matt (eds.). Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments on the Ethics of Eating. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415806831. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
- Ng, Yew-Kwang (1995). "Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering" (PDF). Biology and Philosophy. 10 (3): 255–285. doi:10.1007/BF00852469. S2CID 59407458. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
- Dorado, Daniel (2015). "Ethical Interventions in the Wild. An Annotated Bibliography". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 219–238. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-dora. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
- Moen, Ole Martin (2016). "The Ethics of Wild Animal Suffering" (PDF). Etikk I Praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics. 10: 1–14. doi:10.5324/eip.v10i1.1972. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- Horta, Oscar (2015). "The Problem of Evil in Nature: Evolutionary Bases of the Prevalence of Disvalue". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (1): 17–32. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-001-hort. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- Torres, Mikel (2015). "The Case for Intervention in Nature on Behalf of Animals: A Critical Review of the Main Arguments against Intervention". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (1): 33–49. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-001-torr. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- Cunha, Luciano Carlos (2015). "If Natural Entities Have Intrinsic Value, Should We Then Abstain from Helping Animals Who Are Victims of Natural Processes?". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (1): 51–63. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-001-cunh. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- Tomasik, Brian (2015). "The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 133–152. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-toma. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- Pearce, David (2015). "A Welfare State For Elephants? A Case Study of Compassionate Stewardship". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 153–164. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-pear. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- Paez, Eze (2015). "Refusing Help and Inflicting Harm. A Critique of the Environmentalist View". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 165–178. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-paez. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- Sözmen, Beril (2015). "Relations and Moral Obligations towards Other Animals". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 179–193. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-sozm. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- Faria, Catia (2016). Animal Ethics Goes Wild: The Problem of Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature (Ph.D.). Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
- ^ Delon, Nicolas; Purves, Duncan (2018-04-01). "Wild Animal Suffering is Intractable". Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 31 (2): 239–260. doi:10.1007/s10806-018-9722-y. ISSN 1573-322X. S2CID 158886418.
- ^ Callicott, J. Baird (1980-11-01). "Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair" (PDF). Environmental Ethics. doi:10.5840/enviroethics19802424. S2CID 41646945. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
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:25was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Horta, Oscar (2015-01-05). "Why the Situation of Animals in the Wild Should Concern Us". Animal Charity Evaluators. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
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:28was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Helping animals in the wild". Animal Ethics. 2013-08-28. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
- ^ Vinding, Magnus (2020). "Reducing Extreme Suffering for Non-Human Animals: Enhancement vs. Smaller Future Populations?". Between the Species. 23 (1).
- ^ Wiblin, Robert; Harris, Kieran (2019-08-15). "Animals in the wild often suffer a great deal. What, if anything, should we do about that?". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2019-10-25.