How global wildlife population declines affect aggregate animal welfare and what can be done.
The global wildlife population decline is simultaneously the most significant conservation crisis of our era and one of the largest aggregate welfare losses in history. The 69% decline in monitored populations represents billions of individual animals who would have lived and experienced their lives but do not, because habitats were destroyed, prey was removed, or environments were poisoned. The welfare calculus of extinction is complex — extinct species have no members to experience suffering or flourishing — but population decline and habitat loss impose real welfare costs on surviving animals through resource scarcity, habitat fragmentation, and displacement. Reversing these trends requires political, economic, and personal choices that collectively reduce the human footprint on wild ecosystems.