The Connection to Other Animals and Caring for Nature

Abstract

In an era in which natural resources are under unprecedented pressure, it is vital to ask how the human relationships with the natural world might be improved. One avenue of inquiry is to explore whether there is a relationship between caring for a non-human animal, for a species, and for an ecosystem and whether this relationship may be a key to encouraging resource conservation and environmental protection. In most occidental industrialized societies, interest in domestic and wild animals is intense. Despite a wealth of research on human-wildlife interactions and human-pet interactions there is a dearth of work on the connection between these relationships and interest in environmental protection. In this article, I will address three topics that I believe are crucial to the understanding of the relationship between humans and other animals: the split between humans and the natural world, the development of caring, empathy, and emotional relationships to non-human animals, and finally the magic, or deep and abiding attraction to other species. These topics are especially relevant to current efforts by zoos and aquariums as they try to document the impact they have on the lives of their visitors.