Emotion in Science: The Need for Compassion in Wildlife Conservation

The scientific field of wildlife conservation was created during a historical time when animal sentience and individuality was not fully recognized. Since then, wildlife conservation has failed to ultimately serve the needs of all stakeholders, particularly animals and marginalized human communities such as indigenous and local peoples. This paper investigates the history of wildlife conservation and the hypocrisy of conserving species by sacrificing animal lives, and integrates the studies of Critical Animal Studies, compassionate conservation, and traditional ecological knowledge and ethics of care, into wildlife conservation in hopes of creating a more just, equitable, and sustainable field of study