Wild Animal Initiative

Wild animal welfare non-profit

Wild Animal Initiative

Abbreviation| WAI
Formation| 2019; 6 years ago (2019)
Founders|

*     * Abraham Rowe
* Persis Eskander

Merger of|

*     * Utility Farm
* Wild-Animal Suffering Research

Type| 501(c)(3)[1]
Registration no.| EIN 82-2281466[2]
Legal status| Charity
Focus| Wild animal welfare
Location|

* Farmington, Minnesota, United States[1]

Region served

| Global

Executive Director

| Cameron Meyer Shorb
Revenue| $605,883[3] (2020)
Website| wildanimalinitiative.org

Wild Animal Initiative (WAI) is a nonprofit organization focused on supporting and producing academic research on improving wild animal welfare. It is one of the charities recommended by Animal Charity Evaluators.[4]

## History

[edit]

WAI was founded in 2019, as a merger of the organizations Utility Farm (founded in 2016 by Abraham Rowe) and Wild-Animal Suffering Research (founded in 2017 by Persis Eskander).[5] Its stated mission is to "understand and improve the lives of wild animals," by studying natural causes of pain and death for animals, such as natural disasters, disease, and starvation.[6]

Abraham Rowe was the Executive Director of WAI until 2019,[7] after which Mal Graham became the leader of the organization.[8] In 2022, Graham took the role of Strategy Director, and Cameron Meyer Shorb became the Executive Director.[9]

In 2021, WAI received a grant of $3.5 million from Open Philanthropy to support research on wild animal welfare.[10] In the same year, WAI launched a research fund for high-impact wild animal welfare research, with the intent to "distribute over $3 million to academic research projects designed to understand and improve the lives of wild animals".[11] WAI received a further $6 million grant from Open Philanthropy in 2023.[12]

## Reception

[edit]

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE), which rates the cost-effectiveness of projects that work on improving animal welfare, rated WAI as a "top charity" in 2020, meaning that in their view, donating to WAI was one of the most effective ways to help animals. WAI is the only group not working on farmed animal welfare to ever receive that rating.[13][14] WAI retained its "top charity" status in 2021 and 2022.[15] In 2023, after ACE moved away from categorizing its charities as "top" and "standout", it was categorized as a "recommended" charity by the organization.[4]

WAI has been awarded a four-star rating with a score of 98% by Charity Navigator.[16]

## See also

[edit]

* Animal Ethics (organization)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Wild Animal Initiative Inc". Internal Revenue Service.
2. ^ EIN tax ID
3. ^ "Wild Animal Initiative's Reporting of Programs, Financials, Leadership, and Culture (2021)" (PDF). 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
4. ^ a b Ormandy, Elisabeth (2023-11-08). "Announcing Our 2023 Charity Recommendations". Animal Charity Evaluators. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
5. ^ "Transparency". Wild Animal Initiative. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
6. ^ "About us". Wild Animal Initiative. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
7. ^ "Wild Animal Initiative is hiring an Executive Director". Wild Animal Initiative. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
8. ^ Matthews, Dylan (2021-04-12). "The wild frontier of animal welfare". Vox. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
9. ^ "Cameron Meyer Shorb now serving as Executive Director". Wild Animal Initiative. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
10. ^ "Wild Animal Initiative — Animal Welfare Research". Open Philanthropy. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
11. ^ "We're launching a research fund". Wild Animal Initiative. 2021-07-02. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
12. ^ "Wild Animal Initiative receives $6 million grant". Wild Animal Initiative. 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
13. ^ Samuel, Sigal (2019-12-03). "Want to help animals? Here's where to donate your money". Vox. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
14. ^ "Announcing our 2020 Charity Recommendations". Animal Charity Evaluators. 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
15. ^ Ormandy, Elisabeth (2022-11-22). "Announcing Our 2022 Charity Recommendations". Animal Charity Evaluators. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
16. ^ "Rating for Wild Animal Initiative Inc". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2024-08-07.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Shorb, Cameron Meyer. "The Plight of Wild Animals: Wild Animal Initiative is dedicated to improving the lives of non-humans in nature" (Interview). Interviewed by Jon Hochschartner.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* "Wild Animal Initiative". Internal Revenue Service filings. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
* 2023 review by Animal Charity Evaluators
* Wild Animal Initiative's Wildness podcast
* Wild-Animal Suffering Research
* Utility Farm

* v
* t
* e

Animal welfare

Issues|

* Abandoned pets
* Animal husbandry
* Animal testing
* Animals in sport
* Artificial insemination
* Barn fire
* Battery cage
* Beak trimming
* Bile bear
* Blood sports
* Captivity
* Chick culling
* Culling
* Concentrated animal feeding operation
* Dairy farming
* Discretionary invasive procedures on animals
* Eating live animals
* Eating live seafood
* Eyestalk ablation
* Feedback (pork industry)
* Foam depopulation
* Foie gras controversy
* Forced molting
* Fur farming
* Gestation crate
* Hunting
* Horse pain caused by the bit
* Intensive animal farming
* Intensive pig farming
* Livestock branding
* Livestock dehorning
* Livestock transportation
* Pet rental
* Poultry farming
* Puppy mill
* Testing cosmetics on animals
* Ventilation shutdown
* Vivisection
* Welfare of farmed insects
* Wild animal welfare
* Wildlife farming
* Zoos

Concepts|

* Abnormal behaviours in animals
* Animal psychopathology
* Animal shelter
* Animal welfare science
* Anthrozoology
* Behavioral enrichment
* Compassionate conservation
* Conservation welfare
* Ethics of uncertain sentience
* Ethical omnivorism
* Five Domains model
* Five Freedoms
* Humane law enforcement
* Intrinsic value in animal ethics
* Rescue group
* RSPCA Assured
* Three Rs principles
* Welfare biology

Pain|

* Pain in amphibians
* Pain in cephalopods
* Pain in crustaceans
* Pain in fish
* Pain in invertebrates
* Grimace scale

Organisations|

* ASPCA
* Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society
* Animal Defenders International
* Animal Welfare Committee
* Animal Welfare Party
* Animals' Friend Society
* American Humane
* Animal Aid Unlimited
* Animal Welfare Board of India
* Animal Welfare Institute
* Animal Welfare Investigations Project
* Badger Trust
* Band of Mercy
* Battersea
* Best Friends Animal Society
* Blue Cross
* Blue Cross of India
* Care for the Wild International
* Cats Protection
* Church Society for the Promotion of Kindness to Animals
* Compassion in World Farming
* CAWF
* Cinnamon Trust
* Dogs Trust
* DSPA
* DSPCA
* Eurogroup for Animals
* Four Paws
* FRAME
* Hedgehog Care
* Humane Canada
* Humane Farm Animal Care
* HSUS
* Humane Society International
* Humane Slaughter Association
* International Animal Rescue
* IFAW
* International Society for Applied Ethology
* ISPCA
* List of animal welfare organizations
* League Against Cruel Sports
* Marine Connection
* National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports
* Network for Animals
* Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research
* MSPCA-Angell
* National Animal Welfare Trust
* National Anti-Vivisection Society
* National Council for Animals' Welfare
* OneKind
* Party for Animal Welfare
* People for Animals
* People's Dispensary for Sick Animals
* RNZSPCA
* RSPCA
* RSPCA Australia
* Save Me
* Scottish Animal Welfare Commission
* SSPCA
* Tiggywinkles
* Toronto Humane Society
* UFAW
* Wildlife Aid Foundation
* World Animal Protection
* World Horse Welfare

Publications|

* American Humane Magazine
* Animal Protection
* Animal Welfare
* AWI Quarterly
* Cruel Sports
* Human Advocate
* Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
* Our Dumb Animals
* The Animals' Friend
* The Animals' Guardian
* The Cat
* The Zoophilist

Books|

* A Few Notes on Cruelty to Animals (1846)
* Black Beauty (1877)
* Diet for a New America (1987)
* Min ko vill ha roligt (1990)
* Miracle Dog (2005)
* Striking at the Roots (2007)
* Pawprints of Katrina (2008)
* No Animals Were Harmed (2011)

Activists
and workers|

| Contemporary|

* Michael C. Appleby
* Cynthia Bathurst
* Matthew E. Bershadker
* Christa Blanke
* Moira Brown
* Jan Cameron
* Judy MacArthur Clark
* Kendra Coulter
* Peter Ronald Davies
* Petra Deimer
* Alanna Devine
* Robin Ganzert
* Celia Hammond
* Alison Hanlon
* Brian Hare
* Kathrin Glock
* Emily Patterson-Kane
* Philip Lymbery
* Damien Mander
* Christine Nicol
* Wayne Pacelle
* Sharon Pincott
* Ilka Reinhardt
* Jill Robinson
* Naomi Sagara
* Sepehr Salimi
* Adolfo Sansolini
* Rakesh Shukla
* Karen Stockin
* Patti Strand
* Sally Varma
* Tina M. Widowski

|

Historical|

* Gertrude Ansell
* Emily Appleton
* Gertrude Baillie-Weaver
* H. Baillie-Weaver
* Madeleine Bemelmans
* Henry Bergh
* Annie Bradshaw
* Victoria Braithwaite
* Mary Brancker
* Benjamin Bryan
* Roger A. Caras
* Ada Cole
* Edith Cole
* Jim Cronin
* Brian Davies
* Gerard Lysley Derriman
* Maria Dickin
* Marjorie Doggett
* Muriel Dowding
* Alice Drakoules
* Sarah J. Eddy
* Thomas Erskine
* Agnes Estcourt-Oswald
* Edward G. Fairholme
* Aida McAnn Flemming
* Lucy Furman
* Basil Goldstone
* Julia Goddard
* Robert Gower
* Norman Child Graham
* Colesworthey Grant
* George Greenwood
* Peter Gurney
* Catherine Victoria Hall
* Edward Hemingway
* Rachel Hirschfeld
* Sjoerd Hofstra
* Clive Hollands
* Douglas Houghton
* John A. Hoyt
* W. Hugenholtz
* Rowland Johns
* Velma Bronn Johnston
* Albert Knapp
* Agnes von Konow
* Titus Lander
* Carla Lane
* Etta Lemon
* Victoria Lidiard
* George Watson Little
* Alasdair Alpin MacGregor
* Terry Maple
* Fergus MacCunn
* Frederick Messer
* Richard Martin
* Shirley McGreal
* Lady Mount Temple
* Harriet Nevins
* Felix Ortt
* Catherine Louisa Pirkis
* Eliza Phillips
* Maude Gillette Phillips
* Duchess of Portland
* Samuel Jackson Pratt
* Nancy Price
* Wilfred Risdon
* Peter Roberts
* Jules Rühl
* Jan Salter
* Olive Smith-Dorrien
* Catherine Smithies
* Thomas Bywater Smithies
* Herbert Snow
* Ellin Prince Speyer
* Christine Stevens
* Douglas S. S. Steuart
* Elisabeth Svendsen
* Mary Tealby
* Ralph Waldo Trine
* Sidney Trist
* Ethel Venton
* M. Dudley Ward
* Jessey Wade
* Christopher Wathes
* Franz Weber
* Caroline Earle White
* Emily Williamson
* H. Fergie Woods
* Alice Morgan Wright
* Gretchen Wyler

Scholars
and writers|

| Contemporary|

* Arnold Arluke
* Jonathan Balcombe
* Michael Balls
* Geoffrey Barstow
* Marc Bekoff
* Donald Broom
* Marian Dawkins
* Bob Fischer
* Bruce Fogle
* Jane Goodall
* Temple Grandin
* Celia Haddon
* Jane Hurst
* Erich Hoyt
* Barbara J. King
* Alistair Lawrence
* David Macdonald
* Jeremy Marchant
* Jeff McMahan
* Daniel Mills
* Sy Montgomery
* Virginia Morell
* Yew-Kwang Ng
* Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell
* Clare Palmer
* Susan J. Pearson
* Dale Peterson
* Jessica Pierce
* Diana Reiss
* Carl Safina
* Matthew Scully
* Paul Shapiro
* Jennifer Skiff
* Brian Tomasik
* Peter Wohlleben

|

Historical|

* George T. Angell
* Patrick Bateson
* Beddow Bayly
* Ernest Bell
* Edward Berdoe
* Arthur Broome
* Jean Burden
* Gerald Carson
* Stephen Coleridge
* Christian Adam Dann
* J. Morewood Dowsett
* Audrey Eyton
* George Fleming
* Ralph Fletcher
* Ruth Harrison
* Caroline van der Hucht-Kerkhoven
* C. W. Hume
* E. Douglas Hume
* Beatrice Lindsay
* James Macaulay
* Basheer Ahmad Masri
* Francis Orpen Morris
* George Nicholson
* Siobhan O'Sullivan
* Charles Reinhardt
* Francis H. Rowley
* W. M. S. Russell
* Chris Sherwin
* Colin Spedding
* William O. Stillman
* John Styles
* Bell Taylor
* Ernst von Weber
* D. G. M. Wood-Gush
* Frans de Waal
* Meta Wellmer
* Hugh Wirth
* William Youatt
* Thomas Young

Categories|

* Animal advocacy parties
* Animal killing
* Animal rights
* Animal welfare and rights legislation
* Animal welfare in sports
* Animal sacrifice
* Animal sanctuaries
* Animal testing
* Animal welfare and rights by country
* Cruelty to animals
* Dishes involving the consumption of live animals
* Ethically disputed business practices towards animals
* Fur trade
* Pain in animals
* People associated with animal welfare
* Vivisection
* Whaling

Religious
considerations|

* Dhabihah
* Jhatka
* Kutha
* Shechita
* Tza'ar ba'alei chayim

Rituals and
festivals|

* Blessing of animals
* Bous al carrer
* Cock throwing
* Combat de Reines
* Eid al-Adha
* Gadhimai festival
* Goat throwing
* Goose pulling
* International Primate Day
* Kapparot
* Dog Meat Festival
* Monkey Buffet Festival
* October Horse
* Pushkar Camel Fair
* Rapa das Bestas of Sabucedo
* Running of the bulls
* Surin Elephant Round-up
* Toro embolado
* World Animal Day

Legislation|

* Animal testing regulations
* Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (UK)
* Animal Welfare Act 1999 (NZ)
* Animal Welfare Act 2006 (UK)
* Animal Welfare Act of 1966 (US)
* Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 (UK)
* Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 (UK)
* EU Directive 2010/63/EU (EU)
* EU Directive 1999/74/EC (EU)
* Horse Protection Act of 1970 (US)
* Hunting Act 2004 (UK)
* List of international animal welfare conventions
* Philippine Animal Welfare Act 1998 (Philippines)

Related|

* List of animal rights advocates
* List of animal sanctuaries

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Effective altruism

Concepts|

* Aid effectiveness
* Charity assessment
* Demandingness objection
* Disability-adjusted life year
* Disease burden
* Distributional cost-effectiveness analysis
* Earning to give
* Equal consideration of interests
* Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio
* Longtermism
* Marginal utility
* Moral circle expansion
* Psychological barriers to effective altruism
* Quality-adjusted life year
* Utilitarianism
* Venture philanthropy

Key figures|

* Sam Bankman-Fried
* Liv Boeree
* Nick Bostrom
* Hilary Greaves
* Holden Karnofsky
* William MacAskill
* Dustin Moskovitz
* Yew-Kwang Ng
* Toby Ord
* Derek Parfit
* Kelsey Piper
* Peter Singer
* Brian Tomasik
* Cari Tuna
* Eliezer Yudkowsky

Organizations|

* 80,000 Hours
* Against Malaria Foundation
* Animal Charity Evaluators
* Animal Ethics
* Centre for Effective Altruism
* Centre for Enabling EA Learning & Research
* Center for High Impact Philanthropy
* Centre for the Study of Existential Risk
* Development Media International
* Evidence Action
* Faunalytics
* Fistula Foundation
* Future of Humanity Institute
* Future of Life Institute
* Founders Pledge
* GiveDirectly
* GiveWell
* Giving Multiplier
* Giving What We Can
* Good Food Fund
* The Good Food Institute
* Good Ventures
* The Humane League
* Mercy for Animals
* Machine Intelligence Research Institute
* Malaria Consortium
* Open Philanthropy
* Raising for Effective Giving
* Sentience Institute
* Unlimit Health
* Wild Animal Initiative

Focus areas|

* Biotechnology risk
* Climate change
* Cultured meat
* Economic stability
* Existential risk from artificial general intelligence
* Global catastrophic risk
* Global health
* Global poverty
* Intensive animal farming
* Land use reform
* Life extension
* Malaria prevention
* Mass deworming
* Neglected tropical diseases
* Risk of astronomical suffering
* Wild animal suffering

Literature|

* Doing Good Better
* The End of Animal Farming
* Famine, Affluence, and Morality
* The Life You Can Save
* Living High and Letting Die
* The Most Good You Can Do
* Practical Ethics
* The Precipice
* Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
* What We Owe the Future

Events|

* Effective Altruism Global

* v
* t
* e

Wild animal suffering

Concepts|

* Animal ethics
* Ecology of fear
* Predation problem
* Relationship between animal ethics and environmental ethics
* Speciesism
* Welfare biology
* Wild animal welfare

Interventions|

* Contraception
* Rehabilitation
* Vaccination

Media|

* Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824)
* The Universal Kinship (1906)
* Morals, Reason, and Animals (1987)
* Nature Red in Tooth and Claw (2008)
* "The Meat Eaters" (2010)
* Sentientist Politics (2019)
* Wild Animal Ethics (2020)
* Animal Ethics in the Wild (2022)
* Making a Stand for Animals (2022)

Organizations|

* Animal Ethics
* Wild Animal Initiative
* Wildlife Disaster Network

Writers|

| Contemporary|

* Elisa Aaltola
* Jacy Reese Anthis
* Yves Bonnardel
* J. Baird Callicott
* Stephen R. L. Clark
* Richard Dawkins
* Sue Donaldson
* Catia Faria
* Oscar Horta
* Kyle Johannsen
* Will Kymlicka
* Tobias Leenaert
* Thomas Lepeltier
* William MacAskill
* Jeff McMahan
* Ole Martin Moen
* Arne Næss
* Steven Nadler
* Yew-Kwang Ng
* Martha Nussbaum
* David Olivier
* Clare Palmer
* David Pearce
* Holmes Rolston III
* Steve F. Sapontzis
* Jeff Sebo
* Peter Singer
* Brian Tomasik
* Peter Vallentyne

|

Historical|

* Charles Darwin
* Erasmus Darwin
* Lewis Gompertz
* William Paley
* J. Howard Moore
* Tom Regan
* Alexander Skutch

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