scholarly journals Fires in Nature: A Review of the Challenges for Wild Animals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jara Gutierrez ◽  
Javier de Miguel
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Animal Suffering ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Current Review ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Future Work

Animals living in the wild are exposed to numerous challenges, such as fires, that can lead to animal suffering. The impacts of fire have been studied in different branches of ecology, but studies of its effects on the welfare of individual animals remain scarce. The current review aims to synthesize a sample of relevant aspects regarding fire’s negative effects on wild animals. This review provides a better understanding of how fire compromises animal welfare, providing an example of how to use the knowledge gathered in ecology studies to examine the welfare of wild animals. It can help raise concern for the situation of wild animals as individuals, and to develop the field of welfare biology, by identifying promising future lines of research. The fundamentals of carrying out future work to design protocols for rescuing animals or preventing the harms they can suffer in fires is also explored.

scholarly journals Fires in nature: a review of the challenges for wild animals

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
JARA GUTIÉRREZ ◽  
Javier De Miguel
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
The Public ◽  
Animal Rescue ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Psychological Harm ◽  
Future Work

Animals living in the wild are exposed to numerous challenges, such as fires, that can lead to suffering. The impacts of fire have been studied in different branches of ecology, but studies of its effects on the welfare of individual animals remain scarce. The current review aims to synthesize a sample of relevant aspects regarding fire’s negative effects on wild animals. We mainly focus on the immediate impacts of fire on individuals. How animals respond to fire depends on many factors including their life history, evolutionary adaptations to fire, and individual stress coping styles, in addition to the characteristics of the fire. The fundamentals of carrying out future work for animal rescue and prevention of animal harms in fires were also explored. Fires may increase the risk of injury, disease, stress, and mortality for animals living in the wild, resulting in physiological and psychological harm, experiences of suffering, discomfort and pain, and long-term detrimental consequences. Wild animals can benefit from effective rescue, rehabilitation, and release during fires, and post-release monitoring must accurately evaluate their outcome success. The resulting information can be used to educate veterinarians, rehabilitators, and the public in the prevention of the suffering and deaths of as many animals as possible in future fire events, which ultimately benefits animal welfare. This review provides a better understanding of how fire compromises animal welfare, providing an example of how to use the knowledge gathered in animal ecology to examine the welfare of wild animals. It can help raise concern for the situation of wild animals as individuals, and to develop the field of welfare biology, by identifying promising future lines of research.

scholarly journals Consequences Matter: Compassion in Conservation Means Caring for Individuals, Populations and Species

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Johnson ◽  
Vanessa Adams ◽  
Doug Armstrong ◽  
Sandra Baker ◽  
Duan Biggs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Moral Concern ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Extreme Position ◽  
Conservation Practice ◽  
Conservation Movement ◽  
Do No Harm ◽  
High Standards

Human activity affecting the welfare of wild vertebrates, widely accepted to be sentient, and therefore deserving of moral concern, is widespread. A variety of motives lead to the killing of individual wild animals. These include to provide food, to protect stock and other human interests, and also for sport. The acceptability of such killing is widely believed to vary with the motive and method. Individual vertebrates are also killed by conservationists. Whether securing conservation goals is an adequate reason for such killing has recently been challenged. Conventional conservation practice has tended to prioritise ecological collectives, such as populations and species, when their interests conflict with those of individuals. Supporters of the ‘Compassionate Conservation’ movement argue both that conservationists have neglected animal welfare when such conflicts arise and that no killing for conservation is justified. We counter that conservationists increasingly seek to adhere to high standards of welfare, and that the extreme position advocated by some supporters of ‘Compassionate Conservation’, rooted in virtue ethics, would, if widely accepted, lead to considerable negative effects for conservation. Conservation practice cannot afford to neglect consequences. Moreover, the do-no-harm maxim does not always lead to better outcomes for animal welfare.

scholarly journals Animal Welfare: Beyond Human Happiness

2021 ◽  
pp. 161-166
Author(s):  
Yew-Kwang Ng
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Animal Experimentation ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Energy Costs ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Animal Suffering ◽  
Successful Mating ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Human Happiness

AbstractFor animals capable of affective feelings (enjoyment and suffering), we should also be concerned with their welfare. Welfare biology studies at least three basic questions: Which (species are capable of welfare)? Whether (their welfare is positive)? How (to increase their welfare? As affective feelings entail energy costs, species not capable of making flexible choices are not capable of affective feelings. The fact that members of most species either starve to death or are eaten before successful mating, their net welfare is likely negative. We could decrease animal suffering by banning pointless cruelty and making the living conditions of our farmed animals better (like increasing cage sizes of chicken farming). However, the widespread reduction of extensive animal suffering including wild animals will largely have to be left after our significant scientific/technological, economic, and moral advances. Excessively strict guidelines on animal experimentation that inhibit scientific/technological advances may thus be counter-productive in animal salvation in the long run.

scholarly journals The ethics of wild animal suffering

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Martin Moen
Keyword(s):  
Animal Ethics ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Animal Suffering ◽  
In The Wild

<p class="normal">Animal ethics has received a lot of attention over the last four decades. Its focus, however, has almost exclusively been on the welfare of captive animals, ignoring the vast majority of animals: those living in the wild. I suggest that this one-sided focus is unwarranted. On the empirical side, I argue that wild animals overwhelmingly outnumber captive animals, and that billions of wild animals are likely to have lives that are even more painful and distressing than those of their captive counterparts. On the normative side, I argue that as long as we have duties of assistance towards humans suffering from natural causes, and we reject anthropocentrism, we also have duties of assistance towards animals suffering in the wild.</p><p class="normal">Article first published online: 22 MARCH 2016</p>

scholarly journals School-Based Mind–Body Interventions: A Research Review

Human Arenas ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Cozzolino ◽  
Deborah R. Vivo ◽  
Giovanna Celia
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Third Graders ◽  
Research Review ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Twelfth Graders ◽  
School Based ◽  
Current Review ◽  
School Based Interventions ◽  
School Curricula

AbstractThis paper contains a narrative review of the literature in the field of school-based mind–body interventions (MBIs). The aim of the current review is to verify whether the school-based MBI programs implemented in primary and secondary schools over the past 5 years are effective in helping schoolchildren cope with stress-related, behavioral, and affective issues, as well as improve stress response and school performance. All articles were retrieved using a number of databases. Inclusion criteria comprised qualitative and quantitative, English language, and peer-reviewed studies among third graders (8–9 years old) to twelfth graders (17–18 years old), including special needs pupils. Qualitative studies were limited to pupils’ experience only. Ten studies meeting the criteria for this review were assessed. The school-based interventions included yoga-based programs and mindfulness training. Evidence was evaluated and summarized. Across the reviewed studies, we found support for MBIs as part of school curricula to reduce negative effects of stress and promote overall well-being with caveats to consider in choosing specific programs. The practical implications of the current review include considerations related to the incorporation of MBIs in school curricula, which would likely benefit schoolchildren.

scholarly journals Animal sales from Wuhan wet markets immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Xiao ◽  
Chris Newman ◽  
Christina D. Buesching ◽  
David W. Macdonald ◽  
Zhao-Min Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Protected Species ◽  
Zoonotic Infections ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Poor Welfare

AbstractHere we document 47,381 individuals from 38 species, including 31 protected species sold between May 2017 and November 2019 in Wuhan’s markets. We note that no pangolins (or bats) were traded, supporting reformed opinion that pangolins were not likely the spillover host at the source of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While we caution against the misattribution of COVID-19’s origins, the wild animals on sale in Wuhan suffered poor welfare and hygiene conditions and we detail a range of other zoonotic infections they can potentially vector. Nevertheless, in a precautionary response to COVID-19, China’s Ministries temporarily banned all wildlife trade on 26th Jan 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic concludes, and permanently banned eating and trading terrestrial wild (non-livestock) animals for food on 24th Feb 2020. These interventions, intended to protect human health, redress previous trading and enforcement inconsistencies, and will have collateral benefits for global biodiversity conservation and animal welfare.

scholarly journals Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1740) ◽  
pp. 20160508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Benson-Amram ◽  
Geoff Gilfillan ◽  
Karen McComb
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Numerical Assessment ◽  
Individual Discrimination ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Assessment Skills ◽  
In The Wild

Playback experiments have proved to be a useful tool to investigate the extent to which wild animals understand numerical concepts and the factors that play into their decisions to respond to different numbers of vocalizing conspecifics. In particular, playback experiments have broadened our understanding of the cognitive abilities of historically understudied species that are challenging to test in the traditional laboratory, such as members of the Order Carnivora. Additionally, playback experiments allow us to assess the importance of numerical information versus other ecologically important variables when animals are making adaptive decisions in their natural habitats. Here, we begin by reviewing what we know about quantity discrimination in carnivores from studies conducted in captivity. We then review a series of playback experiments conducted with wild social carnivores, including African lions, spotted hyenas and wolves, which demonstrate that these animals can assess the number of conspecifics calling and respond based on numerical advantage. We discuss how the wild studies complement those conducted in captivity and allow us to gain insights into why wild animals may not always respond based solely on differences in quantity. We then consider the key roles that individual discrimination and cross-modal recognition play in the ability of animals to assess the number of conspecifics vocalizing nearby. Finally, we explore new directions for future research in this area, highlighting in particular the need for further work on the cognitive basis of numerical assessment skills and experimental paradigms that can be effective in both captive and wild settings. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The origins of numerical abilities’.

scholarly journals The Impact of ‘Selfie’ Tourism on the Behaviour and Welfare of Brown-Throated Three-Toed Sloths

Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma Carder ◽  
Tinka Plese ◽  
Fernando Machado ◽  
Suzanne Paterson ◽  
Neil Matthews ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Future Study ◽  
Average Duration ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Bradypus Variegatus ◽  
Focal Observation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Physical Manipulation

The use of wild animals as photo props is prevalent across the globe and is widely recognised to represent a potential animal welfare concern. However, detailed information regarding the specific impacts of such activity on wild animal behaviour is currently lacking. Herein, we investigated how brown-throated three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus) were handled by tourists, and how sloths behaved during wildlife ‘selfies’ taken in Manaus, Brazil and Puerto Alegria and Iquitos in Peru. In total, we observed 17 sloths (during 70 focal observations) that were provided for use in wildlife selfies on 34 different tours. We found that an average number of 5 people held each sloth during each focal observation. For 48.6% of the time the sloths were handled in a way which involved physical manipulation of the sloths’ head and/or limbs and/or being held by the claws. From the eight different types of sloth behaviour observed, we found that the two types performed for the longest average duration of time were surveillance (55.3%) and limb stretching (12.6%). Our findings show that when being handled sloths were frequently held in ways that may compromise their welfare. Although to date the behaviour of sloths while being handled has not been reported in any published literature, in this study we document certain behaviours which may act as indicators of compromised welfare. We suggest that our data provides a potential baseline for future study into the behaviour and welfare of sloths.

scholarly journals Predators as Agents of Selection and Diversification

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 415
Author(s):  
Jerald B. Johnson ◽  
Mark C. Belk
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Evolutionary Diversification ◽  
Multiple Predator Species ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Future Work

Predation is ubiquitous in nature and can be an important component of both ecological and evolutionary interactions. One of the most striking features of predators is how often they cause evolutionary diversification in natural systems. Here, we review several ways that this can occur, exploring empirical evidence and suggesting promising areas for future work. We also introduce several papers recently accepted in Diversity that demonstrate just how important and varied predation can be as an agent of natural selection. We conclude that there is still much to be done in this field, especially in areas where multiple predator species prey upon common prey, in certain taxonomic groups where we still know very little, and in an overall effort to actually quantify mortality rates and the strength of natural selection in the wild.

scholarly journals Formation of Stereotypes

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian Gilmour
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Cognitive Tools ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Diary Studies ◽  
Automatic Stereotyping ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Rapid Activation

The author of this paper explores the implications of automatic stereotyping in relation to social cognition drawing from the pre-existing literature. The current review is focused on how stereotypes are constructed, activated, maintained, and what cognitive tools are needed in order to change them. The construction of stereotypes is looked at in respect to the stereotype validity model, facial features, the mass media, and the influence society has on perpetuating stereotypes on a global scale. The neural correlates involved in the activation of stereotypes are discussed, including the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, and anterior temporal cortex. The current review also includes ways in which cognitive processing can be slowed down to prevent the perpetuation of negative prejudices. Based on the review, future work is still required in the areas of longitudinal and diary studies that look into the long term consequences of the rapid activation and application of stereotypes.

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