The ethics of intervening in animal behaviour for conservation

Thom van Dooren; Catherine J. Price; Peter B. Banks; Oded Berger-Tal; Matthew Chrulew; Jane Johnson; Gabrielle Lajeunesse; Kate E. Lynch; Clare McArthur; Finn C.G. Parker; Myles Oakey; Benjamin J. Pitcher; Colleen Cassady St. Clair; Georgia Ward-Fear; Sam Widin; Bob B.M. Wong; Daniel T. Blumstein

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2023.04.011

The ethics of intervening in animal behaviour for conservation

Thom van Dooren, Catherine J. Price, Peter B. Banks, Oded Berger-Tal, Matthew Chrulew, Jane Johnson, Gabrielle Lajeunesse, Kate E. Lynch, Clare McArthur, Finn C.G. Parker, Myles Oakey, Benjamin J. Pitcher, Colleen Cassady St. Clair, Georgia Ward-Fear, Sam Widin, Bob B.M. Wong, Daniel T. Blumstein

School of Biological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Conservation behaviour is a growing field that applies insights from the study of animal behaviour to address challenges in wildlife conservation and management. Conservation behaviour interventions often aim to manage specific behaviours of a species to solve conservation challenges. The field is often viewed as offering approaches that are less intrusive or harmful to animals than, for example, managing the impact of a problematic species by reducing its population size (frequently through lethal control). However, intervening in animal behaviour, even for conservation purposes, may still raise important ethical considerations. We discuss these issues and develop a framework and a decision support tool, to aid managers and researchers in evaluating the ethical considerations of conservation behaviour interventions against other options.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	822-830
Number of pages	9
Journal	Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Volume	38
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.04.011
Publication status	Published - Sept 2023

Keywords

behavioural change
conservation behaviour
conservation ethics
conservation values
wildlife management

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10.1016/j.tree.2023.04.011

Cite this

van Dooren, T., Price, C. J., Banks, P. B., Berger-Tal, O., Chrulew, M., Johnson, J., Lajeunesse, G., Lynch, K. E., McArthur, C., Parker, F. C. G., Oakey, M., Pitcher, B. J., St. Clair, C. C., Ward-Fear, G., Widin, S., Wong, B. B. M., & Blumstein, D. T. (2023). The ethics of intervening in animal behaviour for conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 38(9), 822-830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.04.011

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abstract = "Conservation behaviour is a growing field that applies insights from the study of animal behaviour to address challenges in wildlife conservation and management. Conservation behaviour interventions often aim to manage specific behaviours of a species to solve conservation challenges. The field is often viewed as offering approaches that are less intrusive or harmful to animals than, for example, managing the impact of a problematic species by reducing its population size (frequently through lethal control). However, intervening in animal behaviour, even for conservation purposes, may still raise important ethical considerations. We discuss these issues and develop a framework and a decision support tool, to aid managers and researchers in evaluating the ethical considerations of conservation behaviour interventions against other options.",

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author = "{van Dooren}, Thom and Price, {Catherine J.} and Banks, {Peter B.} and Oded Berger-Tal and Matthew Chrulew and Jane Johnson and Gabrielle Lajeunesse and Lynch, {Kate E.} and Clare McArthur and Parker, {Finn C.G.} and Myles Oakey and Pitcher, {Benjamin J.} and {St. Clair}, {Colleen Cassady} and Georgia Ward-Fear and Sam Widin and Wong, {Bob B.M.} and Blumstein, {Daniel T.}",

note = "Funding Information: Funding was provided by the Sydney Environment Institute at the University of Sydney and the Australian Research Council ( DP220100245 and FT190100014 to B.B.M.W.; DP200103404 to M.C.; DP190101441 to C.McA.; FT210100345 to J.J.; FT160100098 to T.v.D.; DE220101316 to C.J.P.). B.J.P. is partially funded by a Macquarie University Research Fellowship . T.v.D. is partially funded by a University of Sydney SOAR Prize . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Elsevier Ltd",

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van Dooren, T, Price, CJ, Banks, PB, Berger-Tal, O, Chrulew, M, Johnson, J, Lajeunesse, G, Lynch, KE, McArthur, C, Parker, FCG, Oakey, M, Pitcher, BJ, St. Clair, CC, Ward-Fear, G, Widin, S, Wong, BBM & Blumstein, DT 2023, 'The ethics of intervening in animal behaviour for conservation', Trends in Ecology & Evolution, vol. 38, no. 9, pp. 822-830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.04.011

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AU - van Dooren, Thom

AU - Price, Catherine J.

AU - Banks, Peter B.

AU - Berger-Tal, Oded

AU - Chrulew, Matthew

AU - Johnson, Jane

AU - Lajeunesse, Gabrielle

AU - Lynch, Kate E.

AU - McArthur, Clare

AU - Parker, Finn C.G.

AU - Oakey, Myles

AU - Pitcher, Benjamin J.

AU - St. Clair, Colleen Cassady

AU - Ward-Fear, Georgia

AU - Widin, Sam

AU - Wong, Bob B.M.

AU - Blumstein, Daniel T.

N1 - Funding Information: Funding was provided by the Sydney Environment Institute at the University of Sydney and the Australian Research Council ( DP220100245 and FT190100014 to B.B.M.W.; DP200103404 to M.C.; DP190101441 to C.McA.; FT210100345 to J.J.; FT160100098 to T.v.D.; DE220101316 to C.J.P.). B.J.P. is partially funded by a Macquarie University Research Fellowship . T.v.D. is partially funded by a University of Sydney SOAR Prize . Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier Ltd

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Y1 - 2023/9

N2 - Conservation behaviour is a growing field that applies insights from the study of animal behaviour to address challenges in wildlife conservation and management. Conservation behaviour interventions often aim to manage specific behaviours of a species to solve conservation challenges. The field is often viewed as offering approaches that are less intrusive or harmful to animals than, for example, managing the impact of a problematic species by reducing its population size (frequently through lethal control). However, intervening in animal behaviour, even for conservation purposes, may still raise important ethical considerations. We discuss these issues and develop a framework and a decision support tool, to aid managers and researchers in evaluating the ethical considerations of conservation behaviour interventions against other options.

AB - Conservation behaviour is a growing field that applies insights from the study of animal behaviour to address challenges in wildlife conservation and management. Conservation behaviour interventions often aim to manage specific behaviours of a species to solve conservation challenges. The field is often viewed as offering approaches that are less intrusive or harmful to animals than, for example, managing the impact of a problematic species by reducing its population size (frequently through lethal control). However, intervening in animal behaviour, even for conservation purposes, may still raise important ethical considerations. We discuss these issues and develop a framework and a decision support tool, to aid managers and researchers in evaluating the ethical considerations of conservation behaviour interventions against other options.

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KW - conservation behaviour

KW - conservation ethics

KW - conservation values

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DO - 10.1016/j.tree.2023.04.011

M3 - Review Article

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SN - 0169-5347

VL - 38

SP - 822

EP - 830

JO - Trends in Ecology & Evolution

JF - Trends in Ecology & Evolution

IS - 9

ER -

The ethics of intervening in animal behaviour for conservation

Abstract

Keywords

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The ethics of intervening in animal behaviour for conservation

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

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Cite this