Essence of Unity by Nicoline Mann “When it comes to wolves, it’s not about numbers. It’s about family. A wolf is a wolf when it’s part of an intact, unexploited family group capable of astonishingly beautiful and complex cooperative behaviors and unique traditions.”...
Recent Essays
The objectification of wildlife and the use of euphemisms have stripped wild animals of their cognitive and emotional domains. The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM) perpetuates this objectification by defining wild animals as "public trust resources" that are "renewable" if managed "wisely."
The technocratic, euphemistic language and the objectification of wildlife have normalized hunting, making it psychologically acceptable for hunters.
As a society, we are moving away from the dominance paradigm and increasingly embracing the mutualism paradigm. Social values are not static, and what was once acceptable is no longer. Therefore, the death and suffering of sentient creatures necessitate redefining what the best science really means and complementing it with social and ethical values predominating in the twentieth century.
The miracle of sentient life and the agony of suffering demand establishing a code of ethics that would govern all structures of wildlife management.
In their true meaning, words like co-existence and co-habitation mean that humans and wild animals co-shape spaces. A mutuality of effort takes place. An effort is a crucial word, as well as openness of mind. This is the only path worth taking. It’s high time for a different way of thinking to prevail, one which embraces the mystery of nature and the ongoing evolution of dynamic social-ecological systems.
Compassion draws from a fenceless space. It is different from altruism because compassion comes from an understanding of being connected. True compassion does not stop where one body ends and another begins.
By ignoring psyche, animal behavior reduces an individual’s subjective experience to mere signs, passive markers that assume an animal’s inability to voice. In contrast, a psychological framing sees behavior as one among many symptoms through which an animal speaks.