The Ethics of Predation: Can We Help Wild Animals from Each Other?

Predation causes enormous suffering in the natural world. How should we think about this ethically, and are there circumstances where intervention is justified or wise?

Key Facts

An estimated 10^20 wild invertebrates die painful deaths daily from predation, disease, parasitism, and starvation
Prey animals often experience intense fear and pain during predatory attacks, sometimes over extended periods
Some wild animal welfare advocates argue for limited ecological engineering to reduce predation suffering in specific contexts
Most conservation biologists caution against predator removal, citing crucial ecological roles of predators in regulating prey populations
David Pearce and others have written philosophically about the long-term possibility of reducing wild animal suffering through biotechnology

Welfare Considerations

Predation is one of the most philosophically challenging issues in animal welfare. The suffering it causes is real and vast. Yet predators themselves have interests, prey populations collapse without predator control, and ecosystems are profoundly disrupted by predator removal. The ethical framework for responding to wild animal suffering through predation must grapple with scale, uncertainty about intervention consequences, and the question of whether natural suffering is morally equivalent to human-caused suffering. Currently, direct intervention is generally inadvisable but intellectual engagement with the question is important.

What You Can Do

Engage seriously with wild animal welfare philosophy through authors like Oscar Horta and Jeff Sebo
Support research into wild animal welfare to build the evidence base for future decision-making
Approach predation ethics with appropriate humility given the complexity of ecological systems
Support conservation approaches that incidentally reduce wild animal suffering through habitat quality
Follow the Wild Animal Initiative which funds research into wild animal welfare science