We will claim that focusing on specific cases and stressing how progress is possible is strategically convenient. We will then see which different audiences we should be reaching, and which ways it may be most useful to speak with each of them about helping wild animals. In the second part of the article, we will first argue that we should focus on the kind of messaging that is more likely to trigger progress on the cause now, rather than under an ideal situation. Work on how to help animals on a large scale will also be useful, though not necessarily in the short term. They include research on wild animal vaccination, ways to rescue animals affected by weather events, ways of helping animals in urban or agricultural environments, wild animal contraception, and ways to assess the welfare of animals in the wild. Then, we will present several specific topics to research that appear to be particularly promising for raising concern about this issue and fostering new research. There is a need for cross-disciplinary work incorporating approaches from ecology, animal welfare science, and other related fields. We will then examine what kind of research is needed for this field to develop. In the first half of the article we will start by explaining the distinction between foundational questions and high priority questions, and argue that it is on the latter that we should be focusing now. Due to this, this paper will have two main parts: one about the kind of research it would be especially useful to promote, and the other one about how to spread concern for this topic. Two main courses of action, which are interconnected, are needed: (1) gaining more knowledge about how to best help animals and (2) achieving a shift in attitudes about this topic, especially among certain key agents. To effectively help wild animals, we need those who are in a position to help to want to and be able to do it. However, at this point we already have several important clues that can help us to work much more effectively. Since work on this topic started relatively recently, there is still a lot to learn about how to succeed in it. ![]() On the other hand, the fact that wild animal suffering has been so largely neglected can cause many people to be confused about what they can do to help to reduce it. ![]() These two factors mean that increasing the work done in this field could potentially have a very high impact. Wild animal suffering takes place at a huge scale, yet it has received relatively little attention. The paper concludes by presenting several examples of ways in which individuals and animal organizations interested in wild animal suffering can contribute to the development of the cause area. It argues that effective strategy will focus on specific cases and stressing how progress is possible. It then indicates what audiences should be especially targeted and the best ways to reach them. The article then argues that we should focus on making progress on the cause now, rather than under ideal circumstances. Work on how to help animals on a large scale will also be useful in the long term. Then, it presents several examples of research topics that appear to be especially promising, including wild animal vaccination, helping wild animals affected by weather events, helping wild animals in urban environments, animal contraception, and developing wild animal welfare assessement methods. It then presents the kind of cross-disciplinary research needed for work in this field to develop, which incorporates approaches from ecology, animal welfare science, and related fields. The article explains the distinction between foundational questions and high priority questions, and argues that it is on the latter that we should focus now. The article addresses both how to gain more knowledge about the best ways to help animals and how to achieve a shift in attitudes about it. ![]() ![]() This article presents some indications of how to do this effectively. Strategic considerations for effective wild animal suffering work Available as a pdf hereĭue to the scale and neglectedness of wild animal suffering, increasing work on it could have a very high impact.
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