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Volume VII · Ethics and the Situation of Wild Animals · chapter 26

What Is Already Being Done to Help Wild Animals?

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Helping wild animals already happens: there is vaccination (for example, against rabies), treatment of diseases (probiotics against mange and white-nose syndrome), rescues during disasters, and care for orphans; much more could be done.

Original text Luciano Carlos Cunha · Volume VII, p. 75 of the PDF edition · English translation

26.1. Introduction

Some people believe that the proposal to help , despite having good theoretical foundations, is impracticable. The way to respond to this is simply to show what is already being done to help animals in the wild.

Various things are already being done to help animals in the wild. These aid programs normally have or goals. However, the animals benefit too, and this by itself already shows that it is false that there is nothing that can be done to help them. Moreover, the knowledge gained from these programs can be useful in guiding future projects whose goal is to help animals.

Among the ways in which animals are already being helped80, we can highlight vaccination and disease treatment, helping animals in fires and other natural disasters, caring for orphaned animals, rescuing trapped animals and programs to meet animals' basic needs. Below are some examples of these forms of help.

26.2. Vaccination

There are many examples of large-scale vaccination of wild animals. The best known is rabies vaccination, which has taken place in several countries and helped eradicate the disease in large parts of Europe and North America81. Vaccination is carried out by aerial dispersal of baits containing the vaccine82. The use of drones makes it possible to vaccinate 4,000 animals per day83. Similar programs have been implemented around the world, including the vaccination of wild dogs in Africa84 and Asia85, and of wolves in Ethiopia86.

The following examples show the effectiveness of this type of project. Sylvatic plague in prairie dogs has mortality rates close to 100%87, but after a vaccination campaign in South Dakota in 2019, the animals showed a survival rate of 95%88. Anthrax vaccination has proven effective in populations of rhinoceroses, zebras and cheetahs89, and has also been proposed for gorillas90. Wild boars were vaccinated against tuberculosis under natural transmission conditions in 201191. Research at the University of Helsinki found that it is possible to vaccinate thousands of bees simply by vaccinating the queen92. In the United Kingdom there is a Vaccine and Antigen Bank93. Through vaccination, rinderpest became the second disease ever to be completely eradicated (the first was smallpox) and the first among those that affect nonhuman animals94.

26.3. Disease treatment

Probiotics have been used to treat wombats for mange95; fish for various types of infections96; bats for white-nose syndrome (which increased survival rates from 8% to 46%97) and boreal toads for skin diseases (which gave them a survival rate 40% higher than that of other toads98). There is also research on probiotic treatments for snakes99 and bees100. Since the 1940s, insect sterilization has been used to halt the spread of diseases, which benefits both the animals who would be bitten and the insects themselves since, given their population dynamics101, of all those born, few manage to survive102.

26.4. Treating animals in need

Animals have also been helped when they are injured. For example, birds and bats brought to rehabilitation centers with broken wings usually make a full recovery103. Another form of help is the rescue of trapped animals, such as whales trapped in ice104, elephants in mud lakes105 and animals stranded on beaches106. Providing food combined with contraceptives has also had good results107.

There are orphanages for wild animals in South Africa, Kenya and the Republic of the Congo108. Baby turtles have also been helped to reach the water after hatching109. Animals have also been rescued in disasters such as fires110, hurricanes and tsunamis111, volcanic eruptions112 and floods113.

Sometimes animals are also helped through the construction of shelters or nests114, which has benefited bats115, pigeons116, rabbits117 and moths118. The construction of artificial highlands in Kaziranga National Park, in India, cut the number of deaths of large animals in floods by half in two years119.

These are just a few examples of what is already being done to help animals in the wild. However, much more could be done. As we will see in the next chapter, one example would be the establishment of the field of 120, which would study animals in their ecosystems from the standpoint of what affects them as individuals who have well-being (and not as specimens of species and components of ecosystems).

Text by Luciano Carlos CunhaA Journey Through Animal Ethics collection, Volume VII
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Practice

Study layer. The answers are based on the chapter’s text.

In the chapter's example, probiotic treatment increased the survival of bats with white-nose syndrome from...

According to the chapter, what is the best answer to someone who says the proposal is impractical?

Food for thought

Did you know about any of these programs? Why do you think they get so little publicity?

Author’s notes 41
  1. 80 More details about these forms of help can be found in Ética Animal (2016b) and (2020). ↩
  2. 81 Animal Ethics (2020, p. 75); Baer et al. (1971); Fearneyhough et al. (1998); Robbins et al.(1998); Macinnes; Leber (2000); Maccinnes et al. (2001); Slate et al. (2005); Steck et al. (1982). ↩
  3. 82 Animal ethics (2020, p. 76); Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2010). ↩
  4. 83 Animal ethics (2020, p. 78). ↩
  5. 84 Cleaveland et al. (2003); Kitala et al. (2002). ↩
  6. 85 Childs et al.(1998); Pal (2001). ↩
  7. 86 Carrington (2018). ↩
  8. 87 Abbot; Rocke (2012) ↩
  9. 88 Leggett (2009) ↩
  10. 89 Turnbull et al. (2004). ↩
  11. 90 Animal ethics (2020, p. 79). ↩
  12. 91 Garrido et al. (2011). ↩
  13. 92 Animal ethics (2020, p. 80), Raukko (2018). ↩
  14. 93 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2010). ↩
  15. 94 Fao (2010). ↩
  16. 95 Animal ethics (2020, p. 67-8). ↩
  17. 96 Forschungsverbund (2019) ↩
  18. 97 Hopkins; Soileau (2018); Hoyt et al. (2019). ↩
  19. 98 Animal ethics (2020, p. 68); Kueneman et al. (2016). ↩
  20. 99 Hill et al. (2018). ↩
  21. 100 El Khoury et al. (2018); Animal Ethics (2020, p. 69). ↩
  22. 101 On how population dynamics affects animals' suffering and mortality rates, see (2010) and Ética Animal (2015b). ↩
  23. 102 Dyckn; Hendrichs; Robinson (2005); Parker; Metha (2007); Alphey et al. (2010). ↩
  24. 103 Animal Ethics (2020, p. 70). ↩
  25. 104 Animal Ethics (2020, p. 61). ↩
  26. 105 Animal Ethics (2020, p. 61). ↩
  27. 106 Martin (1991). ↩
  28. 107 Lott (1996, p. 232-3); Cooper; Ginnett (2000); Robb et al. (2008); Orros; Fellowes (2012); Jones (2011). ↩
  29. 108 Animal ethics (2020, p. 70). ↩
  30. 109 Animal ethics (2020, p. 70); Gillingwater (2008). ↩
  31. 110 Gerova (2019), Koala Info (2019) and Animal Ethics (2020, p. 63). ↩
  32. 111 Animal ethics (2020, p. 65). ↩
  33. 112 World Animal Protection (2018). ↩
  34. 113 Akande (2016); Guha; Ghosh (2019); Airey (2019). ↩
  35. 114 et al. (2003); Hansell; Hansell (2005, p. 216-7). ↩
  36. 115 Lausen; Barclay (2006) ↩
  37. 116 Goodwin (1960). ↩
  38. 117 Fernández-olalla et al. (2010). ↩
  39. 118 Hansell and Hansell (2005, p. 216-7); Fernández-olalla et al. (2010). ↩
  40. 119 Guha and Ghosh (2019). ↩
  41. 120 On welfare biology, see Ética Animal (2019b), and Horta (2020) and et al. (2021). ↩
Sources cited in this text 31

The full list for the volume is in the Volume VII references.

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  • RAUKKO, E. The first-ever insect vaccine PrimeBEE helps bees stay healthy. University of Helsinki, 31 out. 2018.
  • WORLD ANIMAL PROTECTION. Rescuing burnt and injured animals in the Philippines after Mayon Volcano eruption. World Animal Protection, 31 jan. 2018.
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This chapter in Volume XII

How the author sums up this debate in The Essentials of Animal Ethics.

There is nothing that can be done to help. (VII, ch. 26).
Animals are already being helped with vaccination and treatment of diseases, in fires and other natural disasters, with assistance to orphaned animals, the rescue of trapped animals, and programs to meet animals' basic needs31.

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Browse the themes

IDiscussing SpeciesismIIConsidering Sentient BeingsIIIAnimals and the Harm of DeathIVThe Debate on Animal ExploitationVDifferences Between Environmentalism and Consideration for AnimalsVITo Whom Do We Owe Moral Consideration?VIIEthics and the Situation of Wild AnimalsVIIIEffective ActivismIXEthics and the FutureXBiases and Their InfluenceXIHow Do the Various Ethical Theories Approach the Animal Question?XIIThe Essentials of Animal Ethics