Welfare biology as an extension of biology: interview with Yew-Kwang Ng

Abstract

This article argues that we should be concerned about the welfare of wild animals. The author, Yew-Kwang Ng, proposes a new field of study called “welfare biology” to address this issue. He points out that the discipline of biology currently focuses on the empirical study of animals, but does not consider their welfare. Ng claims that this is a serious omission, as wild animals may suffer greatly from various natural causes such as predation, competition, and disease. He also points out that the suffering of wild animals may be even greater than the suffering of farmed animals. Ng argues that we have a moral obligation to reduce the suffering of wild animals as much as possible, just as we have a moral obligation to reduce the suffering of humans. He suggests a number of ways that we can do this, such as conducting research to learn more about the welfare of wild animals and developing policies to protect them from harm. – AI-generated abstract.