Debunking the Idyllic View of Natural Processes: Population Dynamics and Suffering in the Wild

Abstract

It is commonly believed that animal ethics entails respect for natural processes,because nonhuman animals are able to live relatively easy and happy lives in thewild. However, this assumption is wrong. Due to the most widespread reproductivestrategy in nature, r-selection, the overwhelming majority of nonhuman animalsdie shortly after they come into existence. They starve or are eaten alive, whichmeans their suffering vastly outweighs their happiness. Hence, concern fornonhuman animals entails that we should try to intervene in nature to reduce theenormous amount of harm they suffer. Even if this conclusion may seem extremelycounter-intuitive at first, it can only be rejected from a speciesist viewpoint.