A huge, forgotten problem
The situation of wild animals, who suffer from hunger, disease, and predation, is one of the problems with the most victims in the world. Even so, it's rarely discussed, even by most activists and animal ethics writers. Many people simply don't know how serious it is. But there are also biases that play a part.
Going along with others
We tend to accept what the people around us think. If almost nobody talks about wild animals, we figure it must not be important. This is tied to status quo bias.
The kind of animal
Most of the wild animals who suffer are small, like insects, fish, and baby amphibians. Because they're small, seem not very intelligent, and aren't much like us, they stir up less empathy.
The number of victims
- Collapse of compassion: we feel less empathy for many nameless victims than for one victim we know.
- Scope neglect: the numbers are so big that we can't feel them. For example: at any given moment, there are about 24 billion land vertebrates, 180 billion fish, and 230 billion shrimp being raised for exploitation. In the wild, the numbers are far bigger still.
Thinking nature is good
Documentaries and movies usually show adult animals that are strong and beautiful. They rarely show the millions of babies who die right after they're born. So we remember the pretty images better and think they represent life in the wild.
In short
- The situation of wild animals is very serious and very forgotten.
- Going along with general opinion, the kind of animal, and huge numbers all contribute to this.
- The media mostly show the pretty cases, and that distorts how we see things.