In 1989, T Berry Brazelton, American pediatrician and author of numerous popular infant development and child-care books, was a plenary speaker at an international human-animal bond conference in Monaco. His talk included comments on an infant's attraction to and affinity with animals. He noted that...
According to reports by the US National Academy of Sciences and the European Commission, published in May this year, the US and Europe are experiencing an acute shortage of monkeys available for medical research, vaccine development, and product testing.Medical research using primates began in the...
As the world trends more urban, the opportunities for animals that have evolved to live close to humans (e.g., house mice and black and brown rats) have also increased. The UN estimates that 55% of the world’s population is urban, whereas the EU estimates that...
(Extract from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, G. Byron 1818, verse 178)Lord Byron's narrative poem, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, contains the line in the above title. The line captures the essence of the Rewilding concept. Rewilding is not about privileging Nature over humans but restoring Nature to vigorous...
In March 2014, the Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy organized a conference in Washington on animal sentience. Following the meeting, several participants asked whether any follow-up was planned. Their queries prompted the establishment of a new, open-peer-commentary journal, Animal Sentience, with cognitive scientist...
Part 1: The Asian elephant has been closely associated with people for perhaps six millennia. Still, there are conflicting views on whether the Asian elephant has been domesticated instead of being a tamed wild animal.For example, some animal protection organizations argue that a captive Asian elephant...
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (The more things change, the more they stay the same)Historical Context. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I into space. I remember, as a boy looking for the moving light spot that was the satellite...
On May 19, 2023, a consortium of 98 organizations and individuals sent a letter to Dr. Hoesung Lee, the current chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), expressing their deep concern at "the potential influence of the meat industry's years-long campaign of interference...
In 1962, Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, co-winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Medicine, wrote, “One can think of the middle of the twentieth century as the end of one of the most important social revolutions in history, the virtual elimination of the infectious diseases...
In the 19th century, two American conservation giants held conflicting views on how best to conserve nature. Gifford Pinchot campaigned to save natural areas FOR human use and enjoyment, while John Muir campaigned to preserve nature FROM human exploitation. Pinchot’s legacy includes Yellowstone National Park, whereas...
