Interdisciplinary Approaches to Managing Human-Wildlife Interactions

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Managing Human-Wildlife Interactions was an Exploratory Workshop funded by a grant from the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia awarded to Principal Invstigator David Fraser, Land & Food Systems and Centre for Applied Ethics. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada.

Animal conservation and animal welfare are important areas of social concern, but they have typically involved different people, often acting in different and sometimes incompatible ways.

Conservation activities typically focus on species, populations and ecological systems, with the goals of preventing extinction and promoting biodiversity and ecological integrity. Animal welfare activities typically focus on individual animals with the goal of preventing suffering and promoting the quality of life that animals experience.

Many practical issues have both conservation and animal welfare dimensions. In agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, the effects of human activities on the natural environment raise both conservation and animal welfare concerns. Invasive species are often managed for conservation purposes, sometimes in ways that create animal welfare concerns. Zoos, aquaria and wildlife rehabilitation centres often raise, rehabilitate and release animals in ways that have implications for both conservation and animal welfare. Human-wildlife conflict (urban wildlife, effects on animals of transportation and human structures) creates both conservation and animal welfare problems. Recreational use of wild animals (hunting, fishing, ecotourism) is often managed in a way that protects conservation values but not the welfare of the animals, whereas management of domestic pets is typically focused on animal welfare but not conservation. In many cases, a satisfactory and socially acceptable solution to problems will require that both conservation and animal welfare goals and values be taken into account.

To achieve this, we need (1) an intellectual framework to guide people in pursuing both conservation and animal welfare concerns simultaneously, (2) a network of scientists and others who support the pursuit of both goals and are willing to engage in joint endeavours, and (3) educational opportunities for graduate students and other who want to gain advanced training in both conservation and animal welfare.