I recently stumbled upon an article written by Heather Browning and Arthur Viet, titled “Positive Wild Animal Welfare“, found in the journal Biology & Philosophy. I love multi-dimensional approaches to trying to understand different fields of study — for example, using philosophy to help us understand, or gain incite into, animal biology and behaviour.
The article explains that when humans think about the lives of wild animals, there are often very different perspectives about the type of life that these animals live: Some envision an idyllic existence of wild animals, untouched by human influence and similar to a world perceived in the Garden of Eden.
In this perception, wild creatures roam free, experiencing their best, happy lives, in a beautiful setting.
Yet, an opposing viewpoint sees the wild as harsh and unforgiving — an environment described by Alfred Tennyson as “red in tooth and claw”. Here, for animals to survive they have a relentless pursuit for sustenance, shelter, and a constant threat of being hunted or dying.
This latter perspective highlights the prevalence of predators and sources of suffering and is often held more dominant in ethical discussions about wild animal welfare. However, it might not paint the complete picture of what life is like for wild animals.
In the article, the authors proposed that the reality of wild animal life most likely sits between the two extremes, possibly leaning more towards a positive existence, more optimistic than many people might think. Most people focus on the suffering that animals endure at the point of death, without giving attention to the array of positive experiences these animals most likely experience throughout their lives.
Why do we think wild animals live such harsh lives?
The popular view of wild animals living such sufferable lives is often influenced by only thinking about their experiences at the time of their deaths. There is not enough attention being paid to all the different experiences endured by wild animals throughout their lives.
“While no-one denies that there are many sources of suffering for wild animals, there are also many sources of pleasure, and we cannot from the outside try to weigh these against one another”.
The short event of death
For instance, while the common occurrence of predation seems agonising, it might not inflict as much suffering as initially thought. In humans, major injuries often do not hurt much at first, due to a spike in adrenaline that blocks the immediate feeling of pain. Studies on animals have suggested that similar chemical pathways may activate in their nervous systems when facing fear or injury. This means that many experiences of predation could be more numb than painful.
Moreover, even if animals do suffer as they die, it shouldn’t define the totality of their lives. Death, particularly in the grip of a predator, lasts a few moments relative to an animal’s lifespan. While this is not an experience anyone wants, it should not define the balance of the animal’s life entirely toward negativity.
Some animals, such as impalas, employ a breeding strategy whereby many offspring are born at one time and do not live for very long, never reaching maturity. For these animals, with short lives and harsh ends, is the balanced skewed to be more likely negative? Possibly in these cases. But it’s important, even in these instances, not to underestimate the potential for positive experiences in the time they have.
The joy of living
When judging the quality of an animal’s life, we must consider the entire spectrum of experiences, not just the negative ones. A life contains a wide range of experiences, we could make a list of all the bad things that wild animals encounter: predation, starvation, thirst, disease, parasites, poor weather, and aggression from members of their own species. Looking at this list might convince us that their lives must be bad. But we can write an alternative list of positive encounters amid the hardships of wildlife: social connections, feeding, mating, comfortable rest, play, exploration, and the enjoyment of sensory experiences.
When examining these lists of experiences, it’s no longer so obvious that animal’s lives are, on balance, bad ones. It becomes far more dependent on the interchange of positive and negative experiences, their intensity, how often they occur and for how long, and how the animal weights their importance. Some species might have considerably better lives than others.
In cases of human depression, one of the main symptoms is a lack of motivation and resistance to move. For an animal needing to find food and other things necessary to live, not moving about could mean death. So for evolutionary reasons, it would be logical for the baseline experience of animals to be at least slightly positive, as this will encourage movement.
It’s possible that just being alive, perceiving, exploring, and experiencing the world, could itself bring happiness to animals.
A greater look into the lives of wild animals
We will never be able to draw meaningful conclusions about the lives of wild animals and what the positive-negative balance is like for them when we base our views on surface-level observations. Fortunately, the emerging field of wild animal welfare research is conducting great empirical studies which could reveal the intensity and duration of varied experiences, offering insight into their lives.
Understanding the complexities of wild animal lives could pave the way for interventions that reduce sources of suffering, such as disease outbreaks or pest control while preserving positive experiences. Until more information arises, there are great arguments to suspect that many—or perhaps most—wild animals indeed live happy lives.
Hello Robyn,
Great article. In an interview I did with the late Richard Leakey, he said that he was convinced all animals, whether they be pets of wild animals, experienced the whole array of diverse sensations, including joy and pleasure. Joy at the first rains after drought, pleasure in grooming family members and satisfaction in social bonding. I would agree. Joy and pleasure are not primarily brought about by thought, but via sensory perceptions that cause chemical messages in the brain that are carried through the body via feelings.
Both pleasure and pain are part of any living organism.
Great stuff!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and those of Richard Leakey, Robyn and Fransje! I, too, tend toward the more optimistic view.
What great pictures. I enjoy watching animals and how they react to certain things or to someone. You can learn alot from them.
A really big philosophical question. I think as long as animals can live the lives they are intended for by nature, they face both: happiness about being alive, forming partnerships, having young ones a.s.o. and also great unhappiness when they are in danger of being preyed upon or getting injured or ill and finding a painful death.
However, the same is also true for humans. We can enjoy great happiness but also have to face war and deaths, fights and depression a.s.o.
What we as humans should not do: make the animals’ (and humans’) lives more dangerous, difficult and painful by threatening them or enforcing circumstances on them they would not have in their natural surroundings. So, no hunting of animals, no keeping them in unnatural environments, no endangering of their lives or exploiting them in painful ways. Same should also be the case regarding our fellow human beings. Nature itself is already cruel enough. Why make it even worth for animals and humans alike?
Robyn, thanks for sharing your insights. Nature and wild animals have been on earth for many years and like us all experience life and death. The pleasures of life are great whether short or long and I am sure all creatures experiences are similar. Wonderful insights thank you again for sharing your thoughts.
Hi Robyn, there’s still a debate about why fish, marine mammals and impala, for example, jump. Everybody knows they want to show their fitness to predators, competitors and partners, but another solid reason may be found in their will to play. While this is the base of their apprenticeship in hunting or escaping as young creatures, then as adults they may just enjoy their time. I was surprised in the first years I followed Londolozi blog, as there was no one-eyed lioness. They are quite common elsewhere after severe altercations or prey-inflicted injuries… and there’s no doubt about the strong bond between mother and offspring. After all, this is likely the happiest moment of an animal’s life… I did enjoy the impala picture and all the others
Hi Robyn, great article on the happiness or pain of the animals. I think there is a balance of both. Looking at the animals in the wild they look happy and positive to me. They have to kill to survive and that is how God intended it be. When they get old I am sure there will be pain and stress. Just like humans go through rough and disheartening times which cause negative thoughts. So also good times bring forth positive thoughts a d happiness in humans.
wonderful perspective!
Hi Robyn,
Thanks for giving us another thought provoking article. Whilst I don’t believe animals possess thoughts and feelings as experienced by humans, I do think they express fear, caring, contentment, desire, happiness, etc. in their own way. I have observed elephants at play in the river, spraying one another, babies carefully monitored by their mothers and a family gathered around a partial carcass, swaying and touching the bones with their trunks. I’ve seen lions nuzzle their cubs, groom them, so there must be some sort of attachment there. Great topic and so much to consider!
I would argue pain is inevitable, but suffering is what happens when we (humans) ruminate, worry, and obsess over our circumstances and are distracted from the present moment. That’s not to say non-human animals can’t suffer, because of course there is suffering in the non-human animal kingdom (I say non-human as we are also animals, and the idea of humans being somehow better or higher than, is problematic in a lot of ways). Non-human animals are always in the present moment. Some are more difficult than others, but to your point, a few uncomfortable or unfortunate moments over the span of a lifetime doesn’t equate to a lifetime of suffering. I question if their inability to worry about the future or fret about the past (both unproductive uses of conscious thought cycles that we humans get trapped in) probably contributes to a much higher quality of life than many people.
WOW! I loved this article. Very well written and something I often thought of. Realistic perspective but positive. Jeanmarie Braat