Wild animal suffering
Think for a moment of a wild animal. What animal do you picture in your mind? When asked this, most people picture healthy, adult, big exotic mammals (or maybe another big vertebrate), such as a lion or an elephant. They think of happy animals, enjoying themselves without any human causing them harm. This is a view of the situation of animals in the wild that is prevalent today.
Many people today have a romanticized view of nature and what the lives of animals in the wild are like. They believe that animals live mostly happy lives as long as they are in a natural environment. Other people are aware that animals in the wild can suffer and die prematurely but believe these are exceptions.
One of the most important factors limiting the growth of animal populations is the lack of food and water, which can kill huge numbers of animals.
Animals in the wild can suffer many different kinds of diseases, some of which are very painful and can kill them slowly. Even those that are not lethal can cause great suffering. While it would often be possible to vaccinate…
In the wild, animals are injured for various reasons. The actual wounds may kill the animals, or their injuries may cripple them in ways that are fatal, such as certain types of mutilations.
Many animals die after suffering a great deal due to extreme temperatures. This happens regularly in nature, and sometimes animals suffer for whole seasons due to this.
Earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and natural forest fires can cause much suffering and many deaths. Even when it would be possible to help them, most animals affected by natural disasters…
In nature, the ecosystemic relations in which an organism causes harm to another for his or her own benefit are called antagonistic ones.
Animals of the same species can have conflicts and fight for number of reasons, including territory, mates, and social status.
Sexual coercion is common among animals of many species, and can result in serious harms. In addition, the males sometime kill the offspring…
In addition to suffering physically, many animals also undergo significant psychological stress….
Many people have a rosy view of the wild. Some think nonhuman animals live in some kind of paradise in the wild. However, animals living in nature have lives that are far from idyllic, and most of them have to deal with the reality of constant threat of tremendous suffering. Wild animal suffering is widely prevalent.
The reproductive strategy that is overwhelmingly prevalent in the wild consists of having huge numbers of offspring of which the vast majority die not long after coming into existence.
Natural selection works when different individuals come into existence but only some of them survive, as there are not sufficient resources available for everyone.
Animals living in nature endure significant harms, as other animals would be harmed…
There are many ways we can help animals living in the wild and save them from the harms that they face in nature. In the long term, the only way they will eventually get the help they need is by us raising awareness of the plight of wild animals and the discrimination they suffer. But there are helpful things that can be done for them in the short term, too.
Animals often suffer accidents in the wild. For instance, they may become trapped and face painful, lingering deaths. In many cases, it can be relatively easy to rescue them.
Diseases and injuries are another source of misery for nonhuman animals living in the wild. But, fortunately, this is one of the fields in which we currently know of significant ways to help them.
Earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and natural forest fires can cause much suffering and many deaths. Even when it would be possible to help them, most animals affected by natural disasters…
Some of the main reasons animals die in the wild are weather conditions and lack of food and water. Moreover, during food shortages those who don’t starve to death suffer from malnourishment…
Animals in the wild sometimes lose one or both parents. In such a situation, it’s often unlikely that they will survive. Most will starve to death unless rescued. This is a critical time for us to help these animals by providing care…
There are many actions we can take to help reduce the harms experienced by animals living in nature. Many of the ways wild animals suffer have clear causes, such as malnutrition…
Welfare biology is a proposed research field devoted to studying the wellbeing of animals in general, and focused especially on animals in their natural ecosystems. The field of welfare biology would inform measures aimed at helping animals and environmental management policies, and provide this cause with the attention and recognition it needs.
