At this moment, it seems unclear. Wild animals are definitely a problem. I don’t think they suffer more than farm animals, but they might. I’m not sure what the best intervention strategy is, but it’s clear that some kind of strategy is needed, both in the short-run and long-run.
I’ve heard a considerable number of people on this site echo the position that wild animals suffer so much their existence must be a net negative. This strikes me as awfully unlikely; they live in the situations they’re adapted to, and have the hedonic treadmill principle going for them as well. You can observe at a zoo how many animals can become neurotic when they’re removed from the sorts of circumstances they’re accustomed to in the wild, but all their physical needs are accounted for.
Animals are adapted to be reproductively successful in their environments, not to be maximally happy, but considering the effects constant stress can have on the fitness of animals as well as humans, it would be quite maladaptive for them to be unhappy nearly all the time.
For animals that are R-selected or, in other words, having many offspring in the hopes that some will survive, the vast majority of the offspring die very quickly. Most species of Fish, Amphibians and many less complex animals do this. 99.9% of them dieing in before reaching adulthood might be a good approximation for some species. A painful death doesn’t seem worth a brief life as a wild animal.
It’s true that most people wouldn’t be functioning optimally if they were not somewhat happy and extrapolating this to other animals who seem to be similar to us in basic emotion, I would agree that an adult wild animal seem like they would live an alright life.
Most species of Fish, Amphibians and many less complex animals do this. 99.9% of them dieing in before reaching adulthood might be a good approximation for some species. A painful death doesn’t seem worth a brief life as a wild animal.
Juvenile r-type species tend to have so little neurological development, I think their capacity for experience is probably pretty minimal in any case.
I tend to agree. But there’s also an awful lot of predation, disease, and starvation in wild habitats. I recommend reading Brian Tomasik’s “The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering”. Whether the sum of all of this adds up to net negative lives is something I’m unsure about.
I’ve heard a considerable number of people on this site echo the position that wild animals suffer so much their existence must be a net negative. This strikes me as awfully unlikely; they live in the situations they’re adapted to, and have the hedonic treadmill principle going for them as well. You can observe at a zoo how many animals can become neurotic when they’re removed from the sorts of circumstances they’re accustomed to in the wild, but all their physical needs are accounted for.
Animals are adapted to be reproductively successful in their environments, not to be maximally happy, but considering the effects constant stress can have on the fitness of animals as well as humans, it would be quite maladaptive for them to be unhappy nearly all the time.
For animals that are R-selected or, in other words, having many offspring in the hopes that some will survive, the vast majority of the offspring die very quickly. Most species of Fish, Amphibians and many less complex animals do this. 99.9% of them dieing in before reaching adulthood might be a good approximation for some species. A painful death doesn’t seem worth a brief life as a wild animal.
It’s true that most people wouldn’t be functioning optimally if they were not somewhat happy and extrapolating this to other animals who seem to be similar to us in basic emotion, I would agree that an adult wild animal seem like they would live an alright life.
Juvenile r-type species tend to have so little neurological development, I think their capacity for experience is probably pretty minimal in any case.
I tend to agree. But there’s also an awful lot of predation, disease, and starvation in wild habitats. I recommend reading Brian Tomasik’s “The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering”. Whether the sum of all of this adds up to net negative lives is something I’m unsure about.