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The Devil is in the detail: Conservation biology, animal philosophies and the role of animal ethics committees

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posted on 2023-05-22, 14:44 authored by Menna JonesMenna Jones, Rodrigo Hamede RossRodrigo Hamede Ross, McCallum, H
Good conservation outcomes depend on sound science that underpins management actions. Good data are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain as competing philosophies and emotive debate interfere with the processes that regulate conservation science. Iconic wildlife species are highly vulnerable to decline and are subject to intense scrutiny, particularly attracting people whose philosophies are closer to animal liberation than animal welfare. We demonstrate through a case study just how vulnerable conservation projects are to emotive pressures on the operation of Animal Ethics Committees (AECs). Our research, which was stopped, used proximity sensing radiocollars to obtain information on disease transmission important for managing a novel contagious cancer that is threatening the Tasmanian devil with extinction. Important lessons include the need for a governance structure of AECs that allows for independent review of decisions, the need to carefully screen potential committee members, and the need for AECs to both apply the code appropriately and then to stand by their decisions and the research in the case of emotive attack. We suggest that AECs and institutions should be less risk--averse about emotive attack in the media and focus on the more important goal of preventing extinction and the broader benefits of the proposed research.

Funding

Australian Research Council

History

Publication title

Science Under Siege: Zoology under Threat

Editors

P Banks, D Lunney and C Dickman

Pagination

79-88

ISBN

978-0-9803272-7-4

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

Place of publication

Sydney, Australia

Extent

26

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other environmental management not elsewhere classified

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