Naisargi Dave’s illuminating book Indifference: On the Praxis of Interspecies Being (2023) uses the fraught (love-hate-indifference-guilt) relations between humans and animals in urban India as the ground for her reflections on ethics. Her core material is familiar terrain to any urban resident. Multiple animal species roam the streets, skulk, or hang out in trees, demanding attention, […]
The 5 Senses Animals Have That Humans Don’t
Humans have sophisticated senses that have been well-developed over time. We have an excellent sense of sight — thanks to retinal photoreceptors (rods and cones). We also have a strong sense of hearing that ranges between 20 to 20,000 hertz. Along with that, we have a robust sense of smell that helps us detect dangers […]
The Farm at Gardner Village rescues animals … and humans
“I gotta grab an apple for these guys, then I’ll be right with you.” That’s Gil Ma talking, resident farmer at The Farm at Gardner Village in West Jordan. “These guys” are his horses. Gil’s love affair with horses — with all animals, for that matter — dates back to his childhood, when he needed […]
What Is Spillover? How Animal Viruses Infect Humans
Workers prepare ducks at a market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on February 24, 2023. Two people in Cambodia were confirmed to have been infected with H5N1 bird flu, but it appears to have been a result of exposure to infected birds or poultry. (Photo by TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images) Spillover is likely happening […]
Review of Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains by Bethany Brookshire
Comment on this story Comment With its modest title, “Pests” might be mistakenly shelved with mouse-proofing guides. But Bethany Brookshire’s new book is something far more ambitious. A lively and fascinating work of science writing, “Pests” explores, as its subtitle promises, “how humans create animal villains” — including, naturally, mice. “Pests — the mice, raccoons, […]
Stories with teeth: How animal tales help us understand humans | Books
What is the bite of animal stories? They are a good place to go to understand humans: the place where our anxieties and hopes, our hungers and terrors, leak out most vividly. For thousands of years we have offered them to children, to convey our ideals under cover of animal faces. The story of how […]
Humans Have Wiped Out 70% Of Animal Populations Since 1970, Study Finds
There has been a huge human-driven loss of species in the last 50 years, new research has found. The Living Planet Report, which is published every two years by the WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL), found that wildlife populations have declined by an average of 69 percent between 1970 and 2018. Two years […]
One Health Joint Plan of Action to address health threats to humans, animals, plants and environment
Geneva, Nairobi, Paris and Rome, 17 October 2022 – Today, a new One Health Joint Plan of Action was launched by the Quadripartite – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as […]
Why are Vultures so important to Humans and the Environment?
Vultures provide vital ecosystem services in our natural, agricultural, and rural environments. The important role they play in the cycling of nutrients through the highly-efficient disposal of organic waste from the environment is of utmost importance to human health and environmental integrity. Vultures are the only obligate scavengers that feed in such large numbers, and […]