Recognizing animal personhood in compassionate conservation

Compassionate conservation is based on the ethical position that actions taken to protect biodiversity should be guided by compassion for all sentient beings. Critics argue that there are 3 core reasons harming animals is acceptable in conservation programs: the primary purpose of conservation is biodiversity protection; conservation is already compassionate to animals; and conservation should prioritize compassion to humans. We used argument analysis to clarify the values and logics underlying the debate around compassionate conservation. We found that objections to compassionate conservation are expressions of human exceptionalism, the view that humans are of a categorically separate and higher moral status than all other species. In contrast, compassionate conservationists believe that conservation should expand its moral community by recognizing all sentient beings as persons. Personhood, in an ethical sense, implies the individual is owed respect and should not be treated merely as a means to other ends. On scientific and ethical grounds, there are good reasons to extend personhood to sentient animals, particularly in conservation. The moral exclusion or subordination of members of other species legitimates the ongoing manipulation and exploitation of the living worlds, the very reason conservation was needed in the first place. Embracing compassion can help dismantle human exceptionalism, recognize nonhuman personhood, and navigate a more expansive moral space

Effect of group size and composition on individual behavior, group dynamics and population regulation in the Arabian babbler (Turdoides squamiceps)

Thesis by publication."A dissertation submitted to Macquarie University in application for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2014".Includes bibliographical references.1. Introduction -- 2. General methods -- 3. Social foraging strategies and acquisition of novel foraging skills in cooperatively-breeding Arabian babblers -- 4. Task-dependent differences in innovation abilities by subordinate and dominant wild Arabian babblers -- 5. Causes of variation in dominance acquisition, tenure, and lifetime reproductive success in a cooperatively breeding bird -- 6. Long-term analysis of social and environmental influences on group dynamics in a cooperative breeder -- 7. Long-term population analysis reveals the presence of group and demographic Allee effects on a cooperatively breeding bird species -- 8. General discussion -- References -- Appendices.Cooperative breeding is a social system in which individuals help care for young that are not their own. Considerable research has found that cooperation can result in a number of benefits for group members, including enhanced reproductive success and greater longevity. These benefits lead to the possibility that the social structure of the group an individual comes from may have important long-term fitness consequences. However, little is known about the relative importance of social and environmental factors on individual fitness traits and group dynamics in the long-term in cooperatively breeding species. Thus, long-term studies on how social and environmental factors influence the costs and benefits of cooperative behaviour are of extreme importance. In this thesis I explore how social and environmental factors influences the individual, the group and the population in cooperatively breeding Arabian babblers (Turdoides squamiceps). I did that by (a) experimentally investigating the factors influencing individual foraging strategies and innovative behaviour, (b) analysing a long-term database to study the effect of social and environmental factors on individual fitness traits and group dynamics, and (c) determining whether inverse density dependence (Allee effects) occurs at both the group and population level. I found that dominant and subordinate individuals differ in both foraging and cognitive strategies, and that novel foraging skills may be socially transmitted, outlining an important benefit of group-living. I also found that group size and reproductive competition significantly affected reproductive success and group dynamics, suggesting that social factors are important influences on both individual fitness and group demography. Finally, I found the existence of both group and demographic Allee effects in the study population, which represents an important consideration for the management and protection of cooperatively breeding species. These findings provides novel approaches that may benefit further studies on individual fitness and group dynamics in cooperative breeders.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (215 pages) colour illustrations, colour ma

Long-term analysis of social and environmental influences on group dynamics

<p>All dataset from the chapter Long-term analysis of social and environmental influences on group dynamics  Oded Keynan PhD thesis. Tel Aviv & Macquarie University 2015</p

Causes of variation in dominance acquisition, tenure, and lifetime reproductive success.

<p>dataset from chapter 5: Causes of variation in dominance acquisition, tenure, and lifetime reproductive success. Oded Keynan PhD thesis, 2015 Macquarie & Tel Aviv University.</p

Long-term population analysis reveals the presence of group and demographic Allee effects

<p>dataset used for the chapter Long-term population analysis reveals the presence of group and demographic Allee effects- Oded Keynan PhD thesis Tel Aviv & Macquarie University 2015</p

Social foraging strategies and acquisition of novel foraging skills in cooperatively breeding Arabian babblers

Social foraging strategies and their association with learning and innovation abilities have been studied extensively in flocking birds, but their importance for cooperatively breeding birds has remained relatively unexplored. The high degree of sociality typical of cooperative societies may indicate an important role of social foraging for learning and innovation. We studied 1) social foraging strategies and 2) the acquisition of a novel foraging skill in 16 groups of wild, cooperatively breeding Arabian babblers (Turdoides squamiceps). In Experiment 1, we provided a foraging grid of 96 feeding wells to each group, allowing them either to search for food individually (producer) or to join other birds (scrounger). Subordinates scrounged significantly more than dominant individuals, spent longer on the foraging grid, and had a higher proportion of their foraging steps rewarded (due to the effect of successful scrounging). However, scrounging was not related to poor learning ability because almost all the individuals that learned the novel foraging skill in Experiment 2 (removing a rubber lid to reach food) were scroungers. These findings suggest that group members differ in their foraging strategies and learning abilities according to their rank and that subordinate group members may be more opportunistic and flexible in their behavior than dominants, making use of both scrounging and novel foraging opportunities.8 page(s

Proto-tool use for food processing in wild Arabian babblers : matching processing methods, substrates and prey types

Cognition is a powerful adaptation, enabling animals to utilise resources that are unavailable without manipulation. Tool use and food processing are examples of using cognition to overcome the protective mechanisms of food resources. Here, we describe and examine the flexibility of proto-tool use (defined as the alteration of an object through object-substrate manipulation) for food processing in a cooperatively breeding bird, the Arabian babbler (Argya squamiceps). Field observations demonstrate that the birds transport different caterpillar species to different substrate types depending on the processing method needed to prepare the caterpillar for eating. Species with toxic setae (e.g. Casama innotata) are transported to be rubbed on rough substrates (e.g. sand) before consumption, while other species (e.g. Hyles livornica) are transported to be pounded against hard substrates until their inner organs are removed and only their external body part is consumed. These results are among the few to describe flexible proto-tool use for food processing in wild animals. They thereby contribute to the taxonomic mapping of proto-tool use and food processing in non-human species, which is a fundamental step to advance comparative studies on the evolution of these behaviours and their underlying cognitive mechanisms.publishe

Data from: Prey responses to foxes are not determined by nativeness

&lt;p&gt;Introduced predators are thought to be responsible for the decline and extinction of their native prey. The prey naivety hypothesis provides a mechanism for these declines, suggesting that native prey are vulnerable to introduced predators as their coevolutionary history is insufficiently long for antipredator behaviours to fully develop. The prey naivety hypothesis thus predicts that prey will be less responsive to introduced predators than to native predators. Australia's endemic small mammals are thought to be vulnerable to predation by red foxes because they are less responsive to – or naive to – a predator with whom they have only co-occurred since the 19th century. To test whether nativeness determines antipredator behaviours we compared small mammal behavioural responses to fox scent outside (Australia) and inside the foxes' native range (North America and Israel). We conducted giving-up density experiments in the deserts of these three regions and evaluated small mammal anti-predator responses to fox scent. To place these results in a broader context, we then integrated our results into a meta-analysis of studies assessing prey responsiveness to fox scent. All small mammals similarly increased their vigilance in response to fox scent, regardless of their coevolutionary history with foxes. Australian small mammals responded with greater wariness to fox scent, by decreasing time at food patches in response to fox scent more than Israeli and American small mammals did. However, we found no evidence that this behaviour influenced foraging as nut consumption was unaffected. Our meta-analysis revealed that globally, small mammals respond with similar wariness to fox scent regardless of whether foxes are their native predator. We found no evidence that Australian small mammals respond in a maladaptive manner, compared to the foxes' native prey. Our results suggest that animals can develop antipredator behaviours to introduced predators to the same magnitude as native prey.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Funding provided by: Australian Research Council&lt;br&gt;Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/05mmh0f86&lt;br&gt;Award Number: DP180100272&lt;/p&gt

Recognizing animal personhood in compassionate conservation

Compassionate conservation is based on the ethical position that actions taken to protect biodiversity should be guided by compassion for all sentient beings. Critics argue that there are 3 core reasons harming animals is acceptable in conservation programs: the primary purpose of conservation is biodiversity protection; conservation is already compassionate to animals; and conservation should prioritize compassion to humans. We used argument analysis to clarify the values and logics underlying the debate around compassionate conservation. We found that objections to compassionate conservation are expressions of human exceptionalism, the view that humans are of a categorically separate and higher moral status than all other species. In contrast, compassionate conservationists believe that conservation should expand its moral community by recognizing all sentient beings as persons. Personhood, in an ethical sense, implies the individual is owed respect and should not be treated merely as a means to other ends. On scientific and ethical grounds, there are good reasons to extend personhood to sentient animals, particularly in conservation. The moral exclusion or subordination of members of other species legitimates the ongoing manipulation and exploitation of the living worlds, the very reason conservation was needed in the first place. Embracing compassion can help dismantle human exceptionalism, recognize nonhuman personhood, and navigate a more expansive moral space. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13494 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina