Wildlife

Undomesticated organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans

For other uses, see Wildlife (disambiguation).

"Wild animals" redirects here. For other uses, see Wild Animals (disambiguation).

A lion (Panthera leo). Lions are an example of charismatic megafauna, a group of wildlife species that are especially popular in human culture.

Wildlife refers to undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans.[1] Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted for sport. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, plains, grasslands, woodlands, forests, and other areas including the most developed urban areas, all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to animals that are untouched by human factors, most scientists agree that much wildlife is affected by human activities.[2] Some wildlife threaten human safety, health, property and quality of life. However, many wild animals, even the dangerous ones, have value to human beings. This value might be economic, educational, or emotional in nature.

Humans have historically tended to separate civilization from wildlife in a number of ways, including the legal, social and moral senses. Some animals, however, have adapted to suburban environments. This includes urban wildlife such as feral cats, dogs, mice, and rats. Some religions declare certain animals to be sacred, and in modern times, concern for the natural environment has provoked activists to protest against the exploitation of wildlife for human benefit or entertainment.

Global wildlife populations have decreased significantly by 68% since 1970 as a result of human activity, particularly overconsumption, population growth, and intensive farming, according to a 2020 World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report and the Zoological Society of London's Living Planet Index measure, which is further evidence that humans have unleashed a sixth mass extinction event.[3][4] Different countries have various legal definitions for “wildlife”[5] but according to CITES, it has been estimated that annually the international wildlife trade amounts to billions of dollars and it affects hundreds of millions of animal and plant specimen.[6]

## Interactions with humans

[edit]

### Trade

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from Wildlife trade.[edit]

Assorted seashells, coral, shark jaws and dried blowfish on sale in Greece Framed butterflies, moths, beetles, bats, Emperor scorpions and tarantula spiders on sale in Rhodes, Greece

Wildlife trade refers to the exchange of products derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, tissues such as skins, bones or meat, or other products. Legal wildlife trade is regulated by the United Nations' Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which currently has 184 member countries called Parties.[7] Illegal wildlife trade is widespread and constitutes one of the major illegal economic activities, comparable to the traffic of drugs and weapons.[8]

Wildlife trade is a serious conservation problem, has a negative effect on the viability of many wildlife populations and is one of the major threats to the survival of vertebrate species.[9] The illegal wildlife trade has been linked to the emergence and spread of new infectious diseases in humans, including emergent viruses.[10][11] Global initiatives like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 have a target to end the illegal supply of wildlife.[12]

#### For food

[edit]

A ground pangolin

Stone Age people and hunter-gatherers relied on wildlife, both plants and animals, for their food. In fact, some species may have been hunted to extinction by early human hunters. Today, hunting, fishing, and gathering wildlife is still a significant food source in some parts of the world. In other areas, hunting and non-commercial fishing are mainly seen as a sport or recreation. Meat sourced from wildlife that is not traditionally regarded as game is known as bushmeat. The increasing demand for wildlife as a source of traditional food in East Asia is decimating populations of sharks, primates, pangolins and other animals, which they believe have aphrodisiac properties.

> Malaysia is home to a vast array of amazing wildlife. However, illegal hunting and trade poses a threat to Malaysia's natural diversity.

— Chris S. Shepherd[13]

A November 2008 report from biologist and author Sally Kneidel, PhD, documented numerous wildlife species for sale in informal markets along the Amazon River, including wild-caught marmosets sold for as little as $1.60 (5 Peruvian soles).[14][self-published source?] Many Amazon species, including peccaries, agoutis, turtles, turtle eggs, anacondas, armadillos are sold primarily as food.

### Media

[edit]

A Douglas squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii)

See also: Nature documentary

Wildlife has long been a common subject for educational television shows. National Geographic Society specials appeared on CBS since 1965, later moving to American Broadcasting Company and then Public Broadcasting Service. In 1963, NBC debuted Wild Kingdom, a popular program featuring zoologist Marlin Perkins as host. The BBC natural history unit in the United Kingdom was a similar pioneer, the first wildlife series LOOK presented by Sir Peter Scott, was a studio-based show, with filmed inserts. David Attenborough first made his appearance in this series, which was followed by the series Zoo Quest during which he and cameraman Charles Lagus went to many exotic places looking for and filming elusive wildlife—notably the Komodo dragon in Indonesia and lemurs in Madagascar.[15] Since 1984, the Discovery Channel and its spinoff Animal Planet in the US have dominated the market for shows about wildlife on cable television, while on Public Broadcasting Service the NATURE strand made by WNET-13 in New York and NOVA by WGBH in Boston are notable. Wildlife television is now a multimillion-dollar industry with specialist documentary film-makers in many countries including UK, US, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Germany, Japan, and Canada.[citation needed] There are many magazines and websites which cover wildlife including National Wildlife, Birds & Blooms, Birding, wildlife.net, and Ranger Rick for children.

### Religion

[edit]

Many animal species have spiritual significance in different cultures around the world, and they and their products may be used as sacred objects in religious rituals. For example, eagles, hawks and their feathers have great cultural and spiritual value to Native Americans as religious objects. In Hinduism the cow is regarded as sacred.[16]

Muslims conduct sacrifices on Eid al-Adha, to commemorate the sacrificial spirit of Ibrāhīm in Islam ( Arabic-Abraham) in love of God. Camels, sheep, goats may be offered as sacrifice during the three days of Eid.[17]

In Christianity the Bible has a variety of animal symbols, the Lamb is a famous title of Jesus. In the New Testament the Gospels Mark, Luke and John have animal symbols: "Mark is a lion, Luke is a bull and John is an eagle."[18]

### Tourism

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from Wildlife tourism.[edit]

Animals can be viewed in their native or similar environments, from vehicles or on foot. This elephant in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, was quite undisturbed by the people and vehicle. Elephant safari after the One-horned Rhinoceros in Royal Chitwan National Park, Manali

Wildlife tourism is an element of many nations' travel industry centered around observation and interaction with local animal and plant life in their natural habitats. While it can include eco\- and animal-friendly tourism, safari hunting and similar high-intervention activities also fall under the umbrella of wildlife tourism. Wildlife tourism, in its simplest sense, is interacting with wild animals in their natural habitat, either actively (e.g. hunting/collection) or passively (e.g. watching/photography). Wildlife tourism is an important part of the tourism industries in many countries including many African and South American countries, Australia, India, Canada, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Maldives among many. It has experienced a dramatic and rapid growth in recent years worldwide and many elements are closely aligned to eco-tourism and sustainable tourism.

According to United Nations World Tourism Organization, with an annual growth about 3%, 7% of world tourism industry relates to wildlife tourism.[19] They also estimate that the growth is much more significant in places like UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[19] Wildlife tourism currently employs 22 million people worldwide directly or indirectly, and contributes more than $120 billion to global GDP.[20] As a multimillion-dollar international industry, wildlife tourism is often characterized by the offering of customized tour packages and safaris to allow close access to wildlife.

## Suffering

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from Wild animal suffering.[edit]

Juvenile red-tailed hawk eating a California vole

Wild animal suffering is suffering experienced by non-human animals living in the wild, outside of direct human control, due to natural processes. Its sources include disease, injury, parasitism, starvation, malnutrition, dehydration, weather conditions, natural disasters, killings by other animals, and psychological stress.[21][22] An extensive amount of natural suffering has been described as an unavoidable consequence of Darwinian evolution,[23] as well as the pervasiveness of reproductive strategies, which favor producing large numbers of offspring, with a low amount of parental care and of which only a small number survive to adulthood, the rest dying in painful ways, has led some to argue that suffering dominates happiness in nature.[21][24][25] Some estimates suggest that the total population of wild animals, excluding nematodes but including arthropods, may be vastly greater than the number of animals killed by humans each year. This figure is estimated to be between 1018 and 1021 individuals.[26]

The topic has historically been discussed in the context of the philosophy of religion as an instance of the problem of evil.[27] More recently, starting in the 19th century, a number of writers have considered the subject from a secular standpoint as a general moral issue, that humans might be able to help prevent.[28] There is considerable disagreement around taking such action, as many believe that human interventions in nature should not take place because of practicality,[29] valuing ecological preservation over the well-being and interests of individual animals,[30] considering any obligation to reduce wild animal suffering implied by animal rights to be absurd,[31] or viewing nature as an idyllic place where happiness is widespread.[24] Some argue that such interventions would be an example of human hubris, or playing God, and use examples of how human interventions, for other reasons, have unintentionally caused harm.[32] Others, including animal rights writers, have defended variants of a laissez-faire position, which argues that humans should not harm wild animals but that humans should not intervene to reduce natural harms that they experience.[33][34]

Advocates of such interventions argue that animal rights and welfare positions imply an obligation to help animals suffering in the wild due to natural processes. Some assert that refusing to help animals in situations where humans would consider it wrong not to help humans is an example of speciesism.[22] Others argue that humans intervene in nature constantly—sometimes in very substantial ways—for their own interests and to further environmentalist goals.[35] Human responsibility for enhancing existing natural harms has also been cited as a reason for intervention.[36] Some advocates argue that humans already successfully help animals in the wild, such as vaccinating and healing injured and sick animals, rescuing animals in fires and other natural disasters, feeding hungry animals, providing thirsty animals with water, and caring for orphaned animals.[37] They also assert that although wide-scale interventions may not be possible with our current level of understanding, they could become feasible in the future with improved knowledge and technologies.[38][39] For these reasons, they argue it is important to raise awareness about the issue of wild animal suffering, spread the idea that humans should help animals suffering in these situations, and encourage research into effective measures, which can be taken in the future to reduce the suffering of these individuals, without causing greater harms.[24][35]

## Loss and extinction

[edit]

See also: Biodiversity loss

Map of early human migrations, according to mitochondrial population genetics. Numbers are millennia before the present.

This subsection focuses on anthropogenic forms of wildlife destruction. The loss of animals from ecological communities is also known as defaunation.[40]

Exploitation of wild populations has been a characteristic of modern man since our exodus from Africa 130,000 – 70,000 years ago. The rate of extinctions of entire species of plants and animals across the planet has been so high in the last few hundred years that it is widely believed that a sixth great extinction event ("the Holocene Mass Extinction") is currently ongoing.[41][42][43][44] The 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, published by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, says that roughly one million species of plants and animals face extinction within decades as the result of human actions.[45][46] Subsequent studies have discovered that the destruction of wildlife is "significantly more alarming" than previously believed, with some 48% of 70,000 monitored animal species experiencing population declines as the result of human industrialization.[47][48] According to a 2023 study published in PNAS, "immediate political, economic, and social efforts of an unprecedented scale are essential if we are to prevent these extinctions and their societal impacts."[49][50]

The four most general reasons that lead to destruction of wildlife include overkill, habitat destruction and fragmentation, impact of introduced species and chains of extinction.[51]

### Overkill

[edit]

Overkill happens whenever hunting occurs at rates greater than the reproductive capacity of the population is being exploited. The effects of this are often noticed much more dramatically in slow-growing populations such as many larger species of fish. Initially when a portion of a wild population is hunted, an increased availability of resources (food, etc.) is experienced increasing growth and reproduction as density dependent inhibition is lowered. Hunting, fishing and so on, have lowered the competition between members of a population. However, if this hunting continues at rate greater than the rate at which new members of the population can reach breeding age and produce more young, the population will begin to decrease in numbers.[52]

Populations that are confined to islands, whether literal islands or just areas of habitat that are effectively an "island" for the species concerned, have also been observed to be at greater risk of dramatic population rise of deaths declines following unsustainable hunting.

### Habitat destruction and fragmentation

[edit]

Main articles: Habitat destruction and Habitat fragmentation

Deforestation and increased road-building in the Amazon Rainforest are a significant concern because of increased human encroachment upon wild areas, increased resource extraction and further threats to biodiversity.

The habitat of any given species is considered its preferred area or territory. Many processes associated with human habitation of an area cause loss of this area and decrease the carrying capacity of the land for that species. In many cases these changes in land use cause a patchy break-up of the wild landscape. Agricultural land frequently displays this type of extremely fragmented, or relictual habitat. Farms sprawl across the landscape with patches of uncleared woodland or forest dotted in-between occasional paddocks.

Examples of habitat destruction include grazing of bushland by farmed animals, changes to natural fire regimes, forest clearing for timber production and wetland draining for city expansion. This is particularly challenging since wild animals cannot drink tap water, which means they cannot autonomously survive in those habitats where there is no surface water access.

### Impact of introduced species

[edit]

Main article: Introduced species

See also: Invasive species

Mice, cats, rabbits, dandelions and poison ivy are all examples of species that have become invasive threats to wild species in various parts of the world. Frequently species that are uncommon in their home range become out-of-control invasions in distant but similar climates. The reasons for this have not always been clear and Charles Darwin felt it was unlikely that exotic species would ever be able to grow abundantly in a place in which they had not evolved. The reality is that the vast majority of species exposed to a new habitat do not reproduce successfully. Occasionally, however, some populations do take hold and after a period of acclimation can increase in numbers significantly, having destructive effects on many elements of the native environment of which they have become part.

### Chains of extinction

[edit]

This final group is one of secondary effects. All wild populations of living things have many complex intertwining links with other living things around them. Large herbivorous animals such as the hippopotamus have populations of insectivorous birds that feed off the many parasitic insects that grow on the hippo. Should the hippo die out, so too will these groups of birds, leading to further destruction as other species dependent on the birds are affected. Also referred to as a domino effect, this series of chain reactions is by far the most destructive process that can occur in any ecological community.

Another example is the black drongos and the cattle egrets found in India. These birds feed on insects on the back of cattle, which helps to keep them disease-free. Destroying the nesting habitats of these birds would cause a decrease in the cattle population because of the spread of insect-borne diseases.

## See also

[edit]

* Animals portal
* Environment portal
* Ecology portal
* Earth sciences portal
* Biology portal

* Do not feed the animals
* Endangered species
* Ex situ conservation
* In situ conservation
* Wildlife conservation
* Wildlife corridor
* Wildness
* World Wildlife Day
* Urban wildlife

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Usher, M. B. (1986). Wildlife conservation evaluation: attributes, criteria and values. London, New York: Chapman & Hall. ISBN 978-94-010-8315-7.
2. ^ Harris, J. D.; Brown, P. L. (2009). Wildlife: Destruction, Conservation and Biodiversity. Nova Science Publishers.
3. ^ Greenfield, Patrick (September 9, 2020). "Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale – report". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
4. ^ Woodyatt, Amy (September 10, 2020). "Human activity has wiped out two-thirds of world's wildlife since 1970, landmark report says". CNN. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
5. ^ Tian, Miaomiao; Potter, Gary R.; Phelps, Jacob (2023-11-01). "What is "wildlife"? Legal definitions that matter to conservation". Biological Conservation. 287: 110339. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110339. ISSN 0006-3207.
6. ^ "¿Qué es la CITES? | CITES". cites.org. Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
7. ^ CITES 2013. Member countries. CITES Secretariat, Geneva.
8. ^ Izzo, J. B. (2010). "PC Pets for a Price: Combating Online and Traditional Wildlife Crime Through International Harmonization and Authoritative Policies". William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Journal. 34 (3).
9. ^ Vié, J.-C.; Hilton-Taylor, C.; Stuart, S.N. (2009). Wildlife in a Changing World – An Analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (PDF). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-8317-1063-1. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
10. ^ Smith KM, Anthony SJ, Switzer WM, et al. (2012). "Zoonotic viruses associated with illegally imported wildlife products". PLOS ONE. 7 (1): e29505. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...729505S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029505. PMC 3254615. PMID 22253731.
11. ^ Smith, KF; Schloegel, LM; Rosen, GE (2012). "Wildlife Trade and the Spread of Disease". In Aguirre, A. Alonso; Ostfeld, Richard; Daszak, Peter (eds.). New Directions in Conservation Medicine: Applied Cases of Ecological Health. Oxford University Press. pp. 151–163\. ISBN 978-0-19-990905-6.
12. ^ "Goal 15 Life on land". UNDP. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
13. ^ Shepherd, Chris R.; Thomas, R. (12 November 2008). "Huge haul of dead owls and live lizards in Peninsular Malaysia". Traffic. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
14. ^ Phd, Sally Kneidel (November 10, 2008). "Veggie Revolution: Monkeys and parrots pouring from the jungle..." Archived from the original on February 9, 2010.
15. ^ "Charles Lagus BSC". Wild Film History. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
16. ^ Bélange, Claude (2004). "The Significance of the Eagle to the Indians". The Quebec History Encyclopedia. Marianopolis College. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
17. ^ "Eid Al-Adha 2014: Muslims Observe The Feast Of Sacrifice". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
18. ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Animals in Christian Art". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
19. ^ a b Scanlon, John (22 June 2017). "The world needs wildlife tourism. But that won't work without wildlife". The Guardian.
20. ^ "How Tourism Benefits Nature and Wildlife - Sustainable Travel International". sustainabletravel.org. 25 January 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25.
21. ^ a b Tomasik, Brian (2015-11-02). "The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 133–152\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-toma. ISSN 2280-9643.
22. ^ a b Faria, Catia; Paez, Eze (2015-05-11). "Animals in Need: the Problem of Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (1): 7–13\. ISSN 2280-9643.
23. ^ Dawkins, Richard (1995). "Chapter 4: God's Utility Function". River Out of Eden. London: Orion Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-297-81540-2.
24. ^ a b c Horta, Oscar (2010). "Debunking the Idyllic View of Natural Processes: Population Dynamics and Suffering in the Wild" (PDF). Télos. 17 (1): 73–88.
25. ^ Iglesias, Alejandro Villamor (2018). "The overwhelming prevalence of suffering in Nature". Revista de Bioética y Derecho (42): 181–195.
26. ^ Horta, Oscar (2014-11-25). "Egalitarianism and Animals". Between the Species. 19 (1).
27. ^ For discussion of wild animal suffering and its relation to the problem of evil see:
* Darwin, Charles (September 1993). Barlow, Nora (ed.). The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: 1809-1882. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 90\. ISBN 978-0393310696.
* Lewis, C. S. (2015). The Problem of Pain. HarperOne. ISBN 9780060652968.
* Murray, Michael (April 30, 2011). Nature Red in Tooth and Claw: Theism and the Problem of Animal Suffering. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199596324.
* Gould, Stephen (February 1982). "Nonmoral Nature" (PDF). Natural History. 91 (2): 19–26. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
* McMahan, Jeff (2013). "The Moral Problem of Predation" (PDF). In Chignell, Andrew; Cuneo, Terence; Halteman, Matt (eds.). Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments on the Ethics of Eating. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415806831. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
28. ^ For academic discussion of wild animal suffering and its alleviation from a secular standpoint see:
* McMahan, Jeff (2013). "The Moral Problem of Predation" (PDF). In Chignell, Andrew; Cuneo, Terence; Halteman, Matt (eds.). Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments on the Ethics of Eating. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415806831. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
* Ng, Yew-Kwang (1995). "Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering" (PDF). Biology and Philosophy. 10 (3): 255–285\. doi:10.1007/BF00852469. S2CID 59407458. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
* Dorado, Daniel (2015). "Ethical Interventions in the Wild. An Annotated Bibliography". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 219–238\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-dora. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
* Moen, Ole Martin (2016). "The Ethics of Wild Animal Suffering" (PDF). Etikk I Praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics. 10: 1–14\. doi:10.5324/eip.v10i1.1972. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
* Horta, Oscar (2015). "The Problem of Evil in Nature: Evolutionary Bases of the Prevalence of Disvalue". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (1): 17–32\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-001-hort. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
* Torres, Mikel (2015). "The Case for Intervention in Nature on Behalf of Animals: A Critical Review of the Main Arguments against Intervention". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (1): 33–49\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-001-torr. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
* Cunha, Luciano Carlos (2015). "If Natural Entities Have Intrinsic Value, Should We Then Abstain from Helping Animals Who Are Victims of Natural Processes?". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (1): 51–63\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-001-cunh. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
* Tomasik, Brian (2015). "The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 133–152\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-toma. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
* Pearce, David (2015). "A Welfare State For Elephants? A Case Study of Compassionate Stewardship". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 153–164\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-pear. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
* Paez, Eze (2015). "Refusing Help and Inflicting Harm. A Critique of the Environmentalist View". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 165–178\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-paez. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
* Sözmen, Beril (2015). "Relations and Moral Obligations towards Other Animals". Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism. 3 (2): 179–193\. doi:10.7358/rela-2015-002-sozm. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
* Faria, Catia (2016). Animal Ethics Goes Wild: The Problem of Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature (Ph.D.). Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
29. ^ Delon, Nicolas; Purves, Duncan (2018-04-01). "Wild Animal Suffering is Intractable". Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 31 (2): 239–260\. Bibcode:2018JAEE...31..239D. doi:10.1007/s10806-018-9722-y. ISSN 1573-322X. S2CID 158886418.
30. ^ Callicott, J. Baird (1980-11-01). "Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair" (PDF). Environmental Ethics. doi:10.5840/enviroethics19802424. S2CID 41646945. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
31. ^ Simmons, Aaron (2009). "Animals, Predators, The Right to Life and The Duty to Save Lives". Ethics & the Environment. 14 (1): 15–27\. doi:10.2979/ete.2009.14.1.15. S2CID 89542818.
32. ^ Sözmen, Beril İdemen (2013-11-01). "Harm in the Wild: Facing Non-Human Suffering in Nature" (PDF). Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 16 (5): 1075–1088\. doi:10.1007/s10677-013-9416-5. ISSN 1572-8447. S2CID 143964923.
33. ^ Regan, Tom (2004). The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 357\. ISBN 978-0-520-24386-6.
34. ^ Kapembwa, Julius (2017). Wildlife rights and human obligations (PhD thesis). University of Reading. p. 50
35. ^ a b Horta, Oscar (2015-01-05). "Why the Situation of Animals in the Wild Should Concern Us". Animal Charity Evaluators. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
36. ^ Sebo, Jeff (2020-01-15). "All we owe to animals". Aeon. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
37. ^ "Helping animals in the wild". Animal Ethics. 2013-08-28. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
38. ^ Vinding, Magnus (2020). "Reducing Extreme Suffering for Non-Human Animals: Enhancement vs. Smaller Future Populations?". Between the Species. 23 (1).
39. ^ Wiblin, Robert; Harris, Kieran (2019-08-15). "Animals in the wild often suffer a great deal. What, if anything, should we do about that?". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
40. ^ Dirzo, Rodolfo; Young, Hillary S.; Galetti, Mauro; Ceballos, Gerardo; Isaac, Nick J. B.; Collen, Ben (2014). "Defaunation in the Anthropocene" (PDF). Science. 345 (6195): 401–406\. Bibcode:2014Sci...345..401D. doi:10.1126/science.1251817. PMID 25061202. S2CID 206555761. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-05-11.
41. ^ Kolbert, Elizabeth (2014). The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. New York City: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0805092998.
42. ^ Ceballos, Gerardo; Ehrlich, Paul R.; Barnosky, Anthony D.; García, Andrés; Pringle, Robert M.; Palmer, Todd M. (2015). "Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction". Science Advances. 1 (5): e1400253. Bibcode:2015SciA....1E0253C. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1400253. PMC 4640606. PMID 26601195.
43. ^ Ripple WJ, Wolf C, Newsome TM, Galetti M, Alamgir M, Crist E, Mahmoud MI, Laurance WF (13 November 2017). "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice". BioScience. 67 (12): 1026–1028\. doi:10.1093/biosci/bix125. hdl:11336/71342. "Moreover, we have unleashed a mass extinction event, the sixth in roughly 540 million years, wherein many current life forms could be annihilated or at least committed to extinction by the end of this century."
44. ^ Cowie, Robert H.; Bouchet, Philippe; Fontaine, Benoît (2022). "The Sixth Mass Extinction: fact, fiction or speculation?". Biological Reviews. 97 (2): 640–663\. doi:10.1111/brv.12816. PMC 9786292. PMID 35014169. S2CID 245889833.
45. ^ Vidal J (March 15, 2019). "The Rapid Decline Of The Natural World Is A Crisis Even Bigger Than Climate Change". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
46. ^ Stokstad, Erik (6 May 2019). "Landmark analysis documents the alarming global decline of nature". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aax9287. S2CID 166478506.
47. ^ "Biodiversity: Almost half of animals in decline, research shows". BBC. May 23, 2023. Archived from the original on July 17, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
48. ^ Finn, Catherine; Grattarola, Florencia; Pincheira-Donoso, Daniel (2023). "More losers than winners: investigating Anthropocene defaunation through the diversity of population trends". Biological Reviews. 98 (5): 1732–1748\. doi:10.1111/brv.12974. PMID 37189305. S2CID 258717720.
49. ^ Greenfield, Patrick (September 19, 2023). "'Mutilating the tree of life': Wildlife loss accelerating, scientists warn". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
50. ^ Ceballos, Gerardo; Ehrlich, Paul R. (2023). "Mutilation of the tree of life via mass extinction of animal genera". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 120 (39): e2306987120. Bibcode:2023PNAS..12006987C. doi:10.1073/pnas.2306987120. PMC 10523489. PMID 37722053.
51. ^ Diamond, J. M. (1989). Overview of recent extinctions. Conservation for the Twenty-first Century. D. Western and M. Pearl, New York, Oxford University Press: 37-41.
52. ^ "Critical Species". Conservation and Wildlife. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.

## External links

[edit]

* Vaughan, Adam (December 11, 2019). "Young people can't remember how much more wildlife there used to be". New Scientist.
* Wild Species

* v
* t
* e

Natural resources

Air|

| Pollution / quality|

* Ambient standards (US)
* Index
* Indoor
* Law
* Clean Air Act (US)
* Ozone depletion

|

Emissions|

* Airshed
* Trading
* Deforestation (REDD)

Energy|

* Bio
* Law
* Resources
* Fossil fuels (gas, peak coal, peak gas, peak oil)
* Geothermal
* Hydro
* Nuclear
* Solar
* sunlight
* shade
* Wind

Land|

* Agricultural
* arable
* peak farmland
* Degradation
* Field
* Landscape
* cityscape
* seascape
* soundscape
* viewshed
* Law
* property
* Management
* habitat conservation
* Minerals
* gemstone
* industrial
* ore
* metal
* mining
* law
* sand
* peak
* copper
* phosphorus
* rights
* Soil
* conservation
* fertility
* health
* resilience
* Use
* planning
* reserve

Life|

* Biodiversity
* Bioprospecting
* biopiracy
* Biosphere
* Bushfood
* Bushmeat
* Fisheries
* climate change
* law
* management
* Forests
* genetic resources
* law
* management
* non-timber products
* Game
* law
* Marine conservation
* Meadow
* Pasture
* Plants
* FAO Plant Treaty
* food
* genetic resources
* gene banks
* herbal medicines
* UPOV Convention
* wood
* Rangeland
* Seed bank
* Wildlife
* conservation
* management

Water|

| Types / location|

* Aquifer
* storage and recovery
* Drinking
* Fresh
* Groundwater
* pollution
* recharge
* remediation
* Hydrosphere
* Ice
* bergs
* glacial
* polar
* Irrigation
* huerta
* Marine
* Rain
* harvesting
* Stormwater
* Surface water
* Sewage
* reclaimed water
* Watershed

|

Aspects|

* Desalination
* Floods
* Law
* Leaching
* Sanitation
* improved
* Scarcity
* Security
* Supply
* Efficiency
* Conflict
* Conservation
* Peak water
* Pollution
* Privatization
* Quality
* Right
* Resources
* improved
* policy

Related|

* Commons
* enclosure
* global
* land
* tragedy of
* Economics
* ecological
* land
* Ecosystem services
* Exploitation
* overexploitation
* Earth Overshoot Day
* Management
* adaptive
* Natural capital
* accounting
* good
* Natural heritage
* Nature reserve
* remnant natural area
* Systems ecology
* Urban ecology
* Wilderness

Resource|

* Common-pool
* Conflict (perpetuation)
* Curse
* Depletion
* Extraction
* Nationalism
* Renewable / Non-renewable

Politics|

* Oil war
* Petroleum politics
* Petrostate
* Petro-Islam
* Resource war

* Category

Authority control databases: National |

* Japan

|

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template