The lives of wild animals include significant suffering from predation, starvation, parasites, and disease, raising profound questions about nature and welfare.
Wild animal suffering from natural causes is a profound welfare challenge. Prey animals eaten alive, animals dying from parasitic infections, starvation, or cold represent enormous quantities of suffering that exist independently of human action. Some effective altruist philosophers argue that reducing wild animal suffering should be a major moral priority. Others argue that intervention in natural processes raises difficult questions about ecological integrity.