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When conservation and animal rights collide

10,000 Birds

One of the first examples I ever encountered was in the books of Gerald Durrell, the famous conservationist who was an early pioneer of the roles of zoos in conservation. He often defended that role in his books from animal rights activists who opposed “imprisoning” animals in zoos even if it saved them from extinction.

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On the Psychological Continuum

Animal Person

And that means for the animal rights movement: Social entities like compassion, empathy and suffering are very important factors to motivate humans to change their behaviour. In contrast, abstract-rational entities, like personhood or rights, are not. I don't disagree with that, as most people are conformists.