Welfare biology work on how fires harm wild animals and what to do about it
An Environmental Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Animal Ethics
September 2020

Herein is a literature review of more than 400 publications about how animals are harmed by forest fires and about how they can be helped.

During the last several years Animal Ethics has been working to promote academic work about the situation of wild animals, focusing on work that has great potential for making a practical difference to their wellbeing. Last year we provided funding for Jara Gutiérrez, a biologist with a PhD in animal welfare science, to do postdoc research at the Autonomous University of Madrid on the effects of fires on animals in the wild.

Fires harm animals living in the wild in many ways, and it is important to recognize how they are affected and recognize opportunities for reducing these harms. There is a very concerning lack of research on the individual welfare of animals living in the wild, so publications like this are especially important now so that we can begin to reverse this situation.

This research can be useful to inform policies and design protocols aiming at helping animals during and after fires. We are also excited about this research because it can encourage similar future research by other scientists.

We are publishing a report here including a literature review of more than 400 publications by Gutiérrez about how animals are harmed by forest fires and about how they can be helped. In addition, she has submitted a paper for publication in a biology journal, which is also available as a preprint here....

 

Please read the entire study here (PDF) - Challenges posed by fires to wild animals and how to help

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