Changes

Timeline of wild-animal suffering

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==Big picture==

{| class="sortable wikitable"

! Year/period !! Key developments!! Key people !! Key organizations

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| ~~1800s–1970~~ pre-1970 || Wild-animal suffering is occasionally mentioned by philosophers as an example of the amorality of nature. In general, there is little discussion of whether humans should intervene to improve the situation.|| Leonardo da Vinci, David Hume, Lewis Gompertz, Giacomo Leopardi, Arthur Schopenhauer, Charles Darwin, John Stuart Mill, J. Howard Moore ||

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| ~~1970–2000~~ 1970–2004 || After the emergence of the contemporary animal rights/welfare movement, wild-animal suffering is discussed by animal rights philosophers and their critics. The critics consider intervention in nature a reductio ad absurdum of animal rights, while some animal rights authors take it to be a serious moral issue.Most discussion takes place through journals, and discussion participants are mostly academics || Peter Singer, David Olivier, Yew Kwang-Ng, David Pearce (early emergence) ||

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| ~~2000–present~~ 2005–2012 || ~~Online communities dedicated to utilitarian ethics and effective altruism discuss~~ During this period, interest in wild-animal suffering blossoms with the help of the Internet. Prolific and passionate individuals such as Brian Tomasik, David Pearce, and Oscar Horta play a ~~serious issue. Activists begin forming organizations dedicated to WAS research~~ leading role in creating content and ~~outreach~~birthing online communities. The academic moral philosophy community also continues debating the issue.|| Brian Tomasik, David Pearce, Oscar Horta ||

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| 2013–2016 || Organizations begin to form that focus on wild-animal suffering, research, and advocacy (as either a primary or secondary focus). Publications reated to wild animals come from a mix of individuals and organizations. Some organizations use prizes to incentivize work on wild-animal suffering, with mixed results. The nascent effective altruism community exposes more people to wild-animal suffering earlier on in their lives || Brian Tomasik, Simon Knutsson, Jacy Reese, Magnus Vinding, Michael Dickens || Animal Ethics, Foundational Research Institute, Animal Charity Evaluators, Sentience Politics

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| 2017–2020 || In this era, a large share of the production of research related to wild-animal suffering is by individuals as part of their work for organizations. Key organizations that sponsor a large number of publications are: Utility Farm, Wild-Animal Suffering Research (the two would later merge into the Wild Animal Initiative), Animal Ethics, Sentience Institute, and (starting late 2018) Rethink Priorities. The ecosystem is sustained by grant money from the Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund, Animal Charity Evaluators' Animal Advocacy Research Fund, and individual donors. || Brian Tomasik, Lewis Bollard, Persis Eskander, Georgia Ray, Ozy Brennan, Abraham Rowe, Oscar Horta || Utility Farm, Wild-Animal Suffering Research (the two would later merge into the Wild Animal Initiative), Animal Ethics, Sentience Institute, Rethink Priorities, Animal Charity Evaluators

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{| class="sortable wikitable"

! Year !! Month and date !! Event type !! People involved !! Details

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| 1487–1501 || || Publication || {{w|Leonardo da Vinci}} || Leonardo da Vinci in his notebooks laments the suffering experienced by wild animals due to predation and reproduction.<ref>{{Cite book|last=da Vinci|first=Leonardo|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5000|title=The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete|date=2004-01-01|publisher=|year=|isbn=|location=1888|pages=|at=folio 1219|language=English|translator-last=Richter|translator-first=Jean Paul|quote=Why did nature not ordain that one animal should not live by the death of another? Nature, being inconstant and taking pleasure in creating and making constantly new lives and forms, because she knows that her terrestrial materials become thereby augmented, is more ready and more swift in her creating, than time in his destruction; and so she has ordained that many animals shall be food for others. Nay, this not satisfying her desire, to the same end she frequently sends forth certain poisonous and pestilential vapours upon the vast increase and congregation of animals; and most of all upon men, who increase vastly because other animals do not feed upon them; and, the causes being removed, the effects would not follow. This earth therefore seeks to lose its life, desiring only continual reproduction; and as, by the argument you bring forward and demonstrate, like effects always follow like causes, animals are the image of the world.}}</ref>

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| 1779 || || Publication || {{w|David Hume}} || David Hume in his posthumous work ''{{w|Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion}}'' makes reference to the antagonism experienced and inflicted by wild animals upon each other.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hume|first=David|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4583|title=Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion|date=|publisher=|year=1779|isbn=|location=|pages=|language=English|quote=Observe [...] the curious artifices of nature, in order to embitter the life of every living being. The stronger prey upon the weaker, and keep them in perpetual terror and anxiety. The weaker too, in their turn, often prey upon the stronger, and vex and molest them without relaxation. Consider that innumerable race of insects, which either are bred on the body of each animal, or flying about infix their stings in him. These insects have others still less than themselves, which torment them. And thus on each hand, before and behind, above and below, every animal is surrounded with enemies, which incessantly seek his misery and destruction.}}</ref>

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| 1821 || || Publication || {{w|Joseph de Maistre}} || Joseph de Maistre in his ''Saint Petersburg Dialogues'', describes the extent of suffering and violent deaths experienced by animals in the wild.<ref>{{Cite book|last=de Maistre|first=Joseph|url=http://maistre.uni.cx/st_petersburg.html|title=Saint Petersburg Dialogues|date=|publisher=|year=1821|isbn=|location=|pages=|chapter=Seventh Dialogue|language=English|quote=In the immense sphere of living things, the obvious rule is violence, a kind of inevitable frenzy which arms all things ''in mutua funera''. Once you leave the world of insensible substances, you find the decree of violent death written on the very frontiers of life. Even in the vegetable kingdom, this law can be perceived: from the huge catalpa to the smallest of grasses, how many plants ''die'' and how many are ''killed''! But once you enter the animal kingdom, the law suddenly becomes frighteningly obvious. A power at once hidden and palpable appears constantly occupied in bringing to light the principle of life by violent means. In each great division of the animal world, it has chosen a certain number of animals charged with devouring the others; so there are insects of prey, reptiles of prey, birds of prey, fish of prey, and quadrupeds of prey. There is not an instant of time when some living creature is not devoured by another [...] Thus is worked out, from maggots up to man, the universal law of the violent destruction of living beings. The whole earth, continually steeped in blood, is nothing but an immense altar on which every living thing must be sacrificed without end, without restraint, without respite until the consummation of the world, the extinction of evil, the death of death.}}</ref>

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| 1824 || || Publication || {{w|Lewis Gompertz}} || Lewis Gompertz in ''Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes'' explores predation as a moral issue and advocates intervening to prevent it in certain circumstances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gompertz|first=Lewis|url=https://archive.org/details/moralinquiriesonthesituationofmanandofbrutes-lewisgompertz|title=Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes|date=|publisher=Centaur|year=1992|isbn=|editor1-last=Singer|editor1-first=Peter|location=Fontwell|pages=93–94|language=English|quote=Y: As you think it wrong for man to kill other animals for food, do you also think it wrong that animals should devour each other? As this is the general law of nature.<br>Z: It appears wrong, according to the rules by which we govern our own actions to each other; and should I witness the attempt in any animal of destroying another, I would endeavour to frustrate it; though this might probably be wrong.}}</ref>

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| 1824 || {{dts|May 30}} || Publication || {{w|Giacomo Leopardi}} || Giacomo Leopardi engages in a dialogue with Nature in "Dialogo della Natura e di un Islandese" ("Dialogue between Nature and an Icelander"), questioning why Nature brings humans and other animals into existence only to inflict suffering and death upon them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leopardi|first=Giacomo|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52356|title=Essays and Dialogues|date=|publisher=Trübner & Co.|year=1882|isbn=|editor1-last=Singer|editor1-first=Peter|location=Ludgate Hill|pages=78–79|language=English|translator-last=Edwardes|translator-first=Charles|quote=Thus I reply to you. I am well aware you did not make the world for the service of men. It were easier to believe that you made it expressly as a place of torment for them. But tell me: why am I here at all? Did I ask to come into the world? Or am I here unnaturally, contrary to your will? If however, you yourself have placed me here, without giving me the power of acceptance or refusal of this gift of life, ought you not as far as possible to try and make me happy, or at least preserve me from the evils and dangers, which render my sojourn a painful one? And what I say of myself, I say of the whole human race, and of every living creature.}}</ref>

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| 1851 || || Publication || {{w|Arthur Schopenhauer}} || Arthur Schopenhauer compares the pleasure experienced by a predator to the pain experienced by the prey to argue that the world contains more pain than pleasure.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schopenhauer|first1=Arthur|title=On the Sufferings of the World|date=1851|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Sufferings_of_the_World|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720223325/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Sufferings_of_the_World|archivedate=2018-07-20|deadurl=no|quote=The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes to see shortly whether this statement is true, let him compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other.}}</ref>

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| 1874 || || Publication || {{w|John Stuart Mill}} || John Stuart Mill's essay "On Nature" is published posthumously. The essay discusses the amorality and cruelty of nature and argues that humans should struggle against it.<ref>JS Mill. On Nature.</ref>

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| 1899 || || Publication || {{w|J. Howard Moore}} || J. Howard Moore in ''Better World Philosophy'' laments the existence of carnivorous animals,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moore|first=John Howard|url=http://archive.org/details/betterworldphilo00mooruoft|title=Better-World Philosophy: A Sociological Synthesis|date=|publisher=The Ward Waugh Company|others=|year=1899|isbn=|location=Chicago|pages=[https://archive.org/details/betterworldphilo00mooruoft/page/162/mode/2up 123–125]|quote=The chief activities of beings, both human and non-human, are put forth, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of procuring food. The suppression, entire or partial, of one being by another for nutritive purposes is, therefore, the form of the most frequent and excessive egoism. The lowly forms of life—the worms, echinoderms, mollusks, and the like—are, for the most part, vegetarians. So, also, are prevalently the insects, birds, rodents, and ungulates. These creatures are not, as a rule, aggressively harmful to each other, chiefly indifferent. But upon these inoffensive races feed with remorseless maw the reptilia, the insectivora, and the carnivora. These being-eaters cause to the earth-world its bloodiest experiences. It is their nature (established organically by long selection, or, as in the case of man, acquired tentatively) to subsist, not on the kingdom of the plant, the natural and primal storehouse of animal energy, but on the skeletons and sensibilities of their neighbors and friends. The serpent dines on the sparrow and the sparrow ingulfs the gnat; the tiger slays the jungle-fowl and the coyote plunders the lamb; the seal subsists on fish and the ''ursus maritimus'' subsists on seal; the ant enslaves the aphidae and man eats and enslaves what can not get away from him. Life riots on life—tooth and talon, beak and paw. It is a sickening contemplation, but life everywhere, in its aspect of activity, is largely made up of the struggle by one being against another for existence—of the effort by one being to circumvent, subjugate, or destroy another, and of the counter effort to reciprocate or escape.}}</ref> he argues for a "Confederation of the Consciousnesses", as an ideal arrangement of the living universe, where sentient individuals of all species—excluding the irredeemable carnivora—bring together their individual talents and collaborate for the benefit of all.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moore|first=John Howard|url=http://archive.org/details/betterworldphilo00mooruoft|title=Better-World Philosophy: A Sociological Synthesis|date=|publisher=The Ward Waugh Company|others=|year=1899|isbn=|location=Chicago|pages=[https://archive.org/details/betterworldphilo00mooruoft/page/162/mode/2up 162–163]|quote= It is not possible, and it never will be possible, to organize all the beings occupying space into one immense confederacy. This would be ideal, but from the inexorable nature of things it can never be. The denizens of the sea depths can not correlate with the inhabitants of the clouds. The lion can not fraternize with the lamb, nor the hawk with the sparrow. The natures of beings have been evolved thru war, and they are in large part irredeemably antagonistic. But the approximation, if honest, may be more successful than is supposed, and may include many species not human. The bird may contribute his song and plumage, the sheep his fleece, the horse, the ox, the elephant, and the camel their strength or speed, the cow and the fowl their secretions, the dog his fidelity, and man his art. The ultimate and ideal aggregation of the living universe will not be a pan-American union nor a Euro-American league, nor even an aggregation whose spirit is embodied in a parliament of man, but the widest and most consummate possible ''Confederation of the Consciousnesses''.]}}</ref>

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| 1906 || || Publication || J. Howard Moore || In his book ''{{w|The Universal Kinship}}'', J. Howard Moore argues that the egoism of sentient beings—a product of natural selection—which leads them to exploit their sentient fellows, is the most mournful fact of existence, and speculates whether a sufficiently sympathetic human could significantly improve this situation if given the chance.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moore|first=J. Howard (John Howard)|url=http://archive.org/details/universalkinship00moor|title=The Universal Kinship|publisher=Charles H. Kerr & Co.|year=1906|isbn=|location=Chicago|pages=249–250|quote= The preponderance of egoism in the natures of living beings is the most mournful and immense fact in the phenomena of conscious life. It has made the world the kind of world it would have been had the gods actually emptied their wrath vials upon it. Brotherhood is anomalous, and, even in its highest manifestations, is but the expression of a veiled and calculating egoism. Inhumanity is everywhere. The whole planet is steeped in it. Every creature faces an inhospitable universeful, and every life is a campaign. It has all come about as a result of the mindless and inhuman manner in which life has been developed on the earth. It has been said that an individual of unlimited faculties and infinite goodness and power made this world and endowed it with ways of acting, and that this individual, as the world's executive, continues to determine its phenomena by inspiring the order of its events. But one cannot help thinking sometimes, when, in his more daring and vivid moments, he comes to comprehend the real character and condition of the world, what a discrepancy exists between the reputation of this builder and his works, and cannot help wondering whether an ordinary human being with only common-sense and insight and an average concern for the welfare of the world would not make a great improvement in terrestrial affairs if he only had the opportunity for a while.}}</ref>

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| 1932 || || Publication || {{w|Clarence Darrow}}|| In his autobiography ''The Story of My Life'', Clarence Darrow describes in detail the brutality of the suffering experienced by animals in the wild.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Darrow|first=Clarence|url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500951h.html|title=The Story of My Life|publisher=|year=1932|isbn=|location=|pages=|quote=Whichever way man may look upon the earth, he is oppressed with the suffering incident to life. It would almost seem as though the earth had been created with malignity and hatred. If we look at what we are pleased to call the lower animals, we behold a universal carnage. We speak of the seemingly peaceful woods, but we need only look beneath the surface to be horrified by the misery of that underworld. Hidden in the grass and watching for its prey is the crawling snake which swiftly darts upon the toad or mouse and gradually swallows it alive; the hapless animal is crushed by the jaws and covered with slime, to be slowly digested in furnishing a meal. The snake knows nothing about sin or pain inflicted upon another; he automatically grabs insects and mice and frogs to preserve his life. The spider carefully weaves his web to catch the unwary fly, winds him into the fatal net until paralyzed and helpless, then drinks his blood and leaves him an empty shell. The hawk swoops down and snatches a chicken and carries it to its nest to feed its young. The wolf pounces on the lamb and tears it to shreds. The cat watches at the hole of the mouse until the mouse cautiously comes out, then with seeming fiendish glee he plays with it until tired of the game, then crunches it to death in his jaws. The beasts of the jungle roam by day and night to find their prey; the lion is endowed with strength of limb and fang to destroy and devour almost any animal that it can surprise or overtake. There is no place in the woods or air or sea where all life is not a carnage of death in terror and agony. Each animal is a hunter, and in turn is hunted, by day and night. No landscape is so beautiful or day so balmy but the cry of suffering and sacrifice rends the air. When night settles down over the earth the slaughter is not abated. Some creatures see best at night, and the outcry of the dying and terrified is always on the wind. Almost all animals meet death by violence and through the most agonizing pain. With the whole animal creation there is nothing like a peaceful death. Nowhere in nature is there the slightest evidence of kindness, of consideration, or a feeling for the suffering and the weak, except in the narrow circle of brief family life.}}</ref>

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| 1952 || {{dts|August}} || Publication || {{w|Alexander Skutch}} || Alexander Skutch publishes "Which Shall We Protect? Thoughts on the Ethics of the Treatment of Free Life", in which he discusses the ideal ethical relations towards "free life"; including predation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Skutch|first=Alexander F.|title=Which Shall We Protect? Thoughts on the Ethics of the Treatment of Free Life|journal=The Aryan Path|year=1952|volume=23|issue=|pages=382–386|url=https://www.alexanderskutch.com/uploads/7/0/1/0/70104897/1952_aryan_protect_382-386.pdf|archiveurl=|archivedate=|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 1962 || {{dts|July}} || Publication || Alexander Skutch || Alexander Skutch publishes "Vegetarianism and the Evil of Predation", in which he argues that vegetarianism is a direct response to the greatest and most far-reaching evil of all—predation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Skutch|first=Alexander F.|title=Vegetarianism and the Evil of Predation|journal=The Aryan Path|year=1962|volume=33|issue=|pages=298–302|url=https://www.alexanderskutch.com/uploads/7/0/1/0/70104897/1962_aryan_vegetarianism_298-302.pdf|archiveurl=|archivedate=|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 1973 || {{dts|June 14}} || Publication || {{w|Peter Singer}} || Peter Singer responds to a question about predation, arguing against interference in practice because the long-term consequences of intervention cannot be predicted. However, he accepts that intervention to reduce wild-animal suffering would be morally justified if one could be reasonably confident that the long-term effects would be positive.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Singer|first1=Peter|title=Food for Thought|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1973/jun/14/food-for-thought/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509205824/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1973/06/14/food-for-thought/|archivedate=2018-05-09|deadurl=no|journal=The New York Review of Books|date=June 14, 1973}}</ref>

| 1995 || || Publication || {{w|Yew-Kwang Ng}} || Economist Yew-Kwang Ng's paper "Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering" is published in ''Biology and Philosophy''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ng|first=Yew-Kwang|title=Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering|journal=Biology and Philosophy|year=1995|volume=10|issue=3|pages=255–285|url=https://www.stafforini.com/library/ng-1995.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622113129/https://www.stafforini.com/library/ng-1995.pdf|archivedate=2018-06-22|deadurl=no|doi=10.1007/BF00852469}}</ref> Ng introduces the term "welfare biology" (cf. [[wikipedia:conservation biology|conservation biology]]), which he defines as the positive study of the well-being of affectively sentient individuals. He discusses which species possess affective sentience. Ng then mentions that many species produce a large number of offspring, only a few of which survive to maturity. The paper argues that non-survivors suffer negative welfare. Since non-survivors greatly outnumber survivors, Ng considers this evidence in favor of the "Buddhist premise" (that wild animals experience more total suffering than happiness).

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| 1995 || || Publication || [[[wikipedia:David Pearce (philosopher)|David Pearce]] || David Pearce publishes his transhumanist manifesto ''The Hedonistic Imperative'', which argues that biotechnology can and should be used to eliminate the experience of suffering.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pearce, David|title=The Hedonistic Imperative|url=https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527232626/https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archivedate=2018-05-27|deadurl=no|date=1995|publisher=hedweb.com}}</ref> It includes a section on wild-animal suffering.|-| Summer 1995 || || Publication || Andrew Luke || Andrew Luke's article "And the Hyenas Laughed No More?" is published in ''The Vegan'', in which the author argues for the incompatibility between veganism and environmentalism, and describes the creation of a vegan utopia—a world where no harms befall any sentient beings.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Luke |first=Andrew |date=1995 |title=And the Hyenas Laughed No More?|url=https://issuu.com/vegan_society/docs/the-vegan-summer-1995/6|magazine=The Vegan|location= |publisher=The Vegan Society|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>

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| 1996 || December || Publication || David Olivier, Steve Sapontzis || ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' publishes its 14th edition, which is dedicated to discussing the problem of predation and human intervention in nature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |last2=Bonnardel |first2=Yves |title=Éditorial |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=December 1996 |volume=14 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/editorial-14/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721033959/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/editorial-14/ |archivedate=2018-07-21 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref> It features articles by David Olivier and Yves Bonnardel, as well as a translation of an article by Steve Sapontzis. For example, one article by Yves Bonnardel is entitled "Contre l’apartheid des espèces: À propos de la prédation et de l’opposition entre écologie et libération animale" ("Against the apartheid of species: On predation and the conflict between ecology and animal liberation").<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bonnardel |first1=Yves |title=Contre l’apartheid des espèces |trans-title=Against the apartheid of species |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=December 1996 |volume=14 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contre-lapartheid-des-especes/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003100009/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contre-lapartheid-des-especes/ |archivedate=2017-10-03 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

| 2015 || {{dts|March 5}} || Project || || Animal Ethics announces its first Essay Prize on suffering in nature and intervention, with a reward of $1,500.<ref>{{cite web |title=Animal Ethics Essay Prize |url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/1st-essay-prize/ |website=Animal Ethics |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928161226/https://www.animal-ethics.org/1st-essay-prize/ |archivedate=2017-09-28 |deadurl=no |date=5 March 2015}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|April 12}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik || Brian Tomasik || publishes "Why Vegans Should Care About Wild Animal Suffering" on the website Reasonable Vegan.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Brian|last1=Tomasik|website=Reasonable Vegan|title= Why Vegans Should Care About Wild Animal Suffering |url=http://rvgn.org/2015/04/12/why-vegans-should-care-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721225444/http://rvgn.org/2015/04/12/why-vegans-should-care-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|May 1}} || Publication || Magnus Vinding || Magnus Vinding publishes the e-book "''Speciesism: Why It Is Wrong and the Implications of Rejecting It"''. It argues that reducing wild-animal suffering is a moral imperative.<ref>{{cite book|title=Speciesism: Why It Is Wrong and the Implications of Rejecting It |first1=Magnus|last1=Vinding|date=May 1, 2015|publisher=Smashwords|url=https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/539674|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/715bd4E1l|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|May}} || || || The philosophy journal ''Relations: Beyond Anthropocentrism'' publishes a special double volume on the ethics of wild-animal suffering and intervention in nature, edited by Animal Ethics staff.<ref>{{cite web|title=Academic work on wild animal suffering edited by Animal Ethics activists|url=http://www.animal-ethics.org/academic-work-on-wild-animal-suffering-edited-by-animal-ethics-activists/|website=Animal Ethics|date=23 December 2015}}</ref>

| 2016 || {{dts|March 15}} || Publication || Catia Faria || Catia Faria submits her PhD thesis "Animal Ethics Goes Wild: The Problem of Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Faria |first1=Catia |title=Animal ethics goes wild: the problem of wild animal suffering and intervention in nature |date=2016-03-15 |publisher=Universitat Pompeu Fabra |url=https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/385919 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616130628/https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/385919 |archivedate=2018-06-16 |deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|March 20}} || Publication || Magnus Vinding || Magnus Vinding publishes the e-book "''The Speciesism of Leaving Nature Alone, and the Theoretical Case for ~~“Wildlife~~ "Wildlife Anti-~~Natalism”~~Natalism"''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Speciesism of Leaving Nature Alone, and the Theoretical Case for “Wildlife Anti-Natalism”|first1=Magnus|last1=Vinding|date=March 20, 2016|publisher=Smashwords|url=https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/624122|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/715bJLXWP|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|March 23}} || Project || || Animal Ethics announces that none of the submissions to its Essay Prize met the standards they expected, and the prize was not awarded. However, they gave a $1,500 grant to the author of the best paper, Meera Inglis from the Department of Politics of the University of Sheffield, to continue her research on invasive species.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/announcement-regarding-the-animal-ethics-essay-prize/|website=Animal Ethics|date=23 March 2016|title=Announcement regarding the Animal Ethics Essay Prize|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721050403/https://www.animal-ethics.org/announcement-regarding-the-animal-ethics-essay-prize/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|June}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard || Lewis Bollard allocates $70K to Animal Ethics, $40K to Utility Farm, and $30K to Wild-Animal Suffering Research via the EA Funds. He notes that all three organizations have converged around the strategy of building an academic field of wild-animal suffering, but have different approaches.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=June 2018: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nTS2AEOLkuQEmEQ5ePa7opt9eoN_utvWvXPbFGJL90s|website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=June 2018|archiveurl=https://archive.is/6YMLA|archivedate=2018-07-20|quote=Potential interventions to aid wild animals remain limited, and may be unwise, so I think it makes sense to build an academic field that can better research this problem and potential approaches to addressing it. The three primary groups in this space have all converged around the academic field-building strategy, though they have different approaches. Given the magnitude of the problem, my uncertainty over which approach is likely to be most effective, and my sense that all three groups are well-run, I’m proposing funding all three.|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|August 10}} || Publication || Steven Nadler || Steven Nadler's in his essay "We Have an Ethical Obligation to Relieve Individual Animal Suffering", argues that we should intervene to relieve suffering in the wild, using the example of a starving polar bear.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aeon.co/ideas/we-have-an-ethical-obligation-to-relieve-individual-animal-suffering|title=We Have an Ethical Obligation to Relieve Individual Animal Suffering|date=2018-08-10|website=Aeon|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-29}}</ref>

|-

| 2018 || September 4 || Publication || Persis Eskander || Persis Eskander from Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes "An Introduction to Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://was-research.org/paper/an-introduction-to-human-appropriation-of-net-primary-productivity/|title=An Introduction to Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity|last=Esk|first=Persis|last2=er|date=2018-09-04|website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>

| 2019 || July 1 || Publication || || Animal Ethics publishes a new article about how fireworks harm nonhuman animals of all sizes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/fireworks-harm-nonhuman-animals/|title=A new article about how fireworks harm nonhuman animals of all sizes|last=Ethics|first=Animal|date=2019-07-01|website=Animal Ethics|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>

|-

| 2019 || April || Project || || Wild Animal Initiative launches ''Wildness'', a podcast on wild animal ethics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/wildness|title=Wildness Podcast|website=Wild Animal Initiative|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>

|-

| 2019 || January || Project || || Wild Animal Initiative launches The Compassionate Cat Grant aiming "to gather information on cat predation education at the rescue organization level and draw conclusions regarding the effect of advocacy efforts on the welfare of wild animals".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catgrants.org/|title=The Compassionate Cat Grant|website=The Compassionate Cat Grant|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>

| 2019 || || Funding || Oscar Horta, Maria Salazar || ACE's Animal Advocacy Research Fund awards funding "to Oscar Horta and Maria Salazar (Animal Ethics) for this study. The purpose of this research project is to explore how to establish an expert field of research on wild animal welfare."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://researchfund.animalcharityevaluators.org/funded-projects/establishing-a-field-of-research-for-wild-animal-suffering/|title=Establishing a field of research for wild animal suffering|date=2019-02-07|website=Animal Advocacy Research Fund|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>

|-

| 2019 || || Funding || || "[ACE's Animal Advocacy Research Fund awards] funding to Oscar Horta (Animal Ethics) for this project. The purpose of this project is to gain insight into the lines of research on wild animal suffering most likely to be accepted by and appealing to biologists and animal welfare scientists and students."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://researchfund.animalcharityevaluators.org/funded-projects/surveying-attitudes-toward-interventions-reducing-wild-animal-suffering-among-scientists-and-students/|title=Surveying attitudes toward interventions reducing wild animal suffering among scientists and students|date=2019-02-07|website=Animal Advocacy Research Fund|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>|-| 2020 || {{dts|January 15}}|| Publication || Jeff Sebo || Jeff Sebo in "All We Owe to Animals", describes the seriousness of the threat of climate change to both humans and nonhuman animals and argues that we have a moral obligation to relieve the suffering of individual wild animals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aeon.co/essays/we-cant-stand-by-as-animals-suffer-and-die-in-their-billions|title=All We Owe to Animals|date=2019-02-07|website=Aeon|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-29}}</ref>|-| 2020 || {{dts|February 10}}|| Publication || Animal Ethics || Animal Ethics publishes "Scientists' attitudes towards improving the welfare of animals in the wild: a qualitative study"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/scientists-attitudes-animals-wild-qualitative/|title=Scientists' attitudes towards improving the welfare of animals in the wild: a qualitative study|date=2020-02-10|website=Animal Ethics|language=en|access-date=2020-04-06}}</ref>|-| 2020 || {{dts|February 29}}|| Publication || Animal Ethics || Animal Ethics releases the first video of an online course on wild animal suffering.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/announcing-the-first-video-of-an-online-course-on-wild-animal-suffering/|title=Announcing the first video of an online course on wild animal suffering|date=2020-02-29|website=Animal Ethics|language=en|access-date=2020-04-06}}</ref>|-| 2020 || {{dts|April 3}}|| Publication || Animal Ethics || Animal Ethics releases ''Introduction to Wild Animal Suffering: A Guide to the Issues'', as a companion text to its online video course.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/introduction-wild-animal-suffering/|title=Introduction to wild animal suffering: A guide to the issues|date=2020-04-03|website=Animal Ethics|language=en|access-date=2020-04-06}}</ref>

|}

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/wildanimalsuffering/comments/cghlge/timeline_of_wild_animal_suffering/ Reddit group on Wild Animal Suffering]

* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/suffering.in.nature/permalink/2788774647818982/ Facebook Group on Reducing Wild-Animal Suffering]

~~==See also==~~

* [[Timeline of animal welfare and rights]]

* [[Timeline of effective altruism]]

* [[Timeline of Foundational Research Institute]]

* [[Timeline of the environmentalist movement]]

~~==External links==~~

* [http://www.stafforini.com/blog/wild/ Wild animal welfare: a bibliography]

* [http://www.animal-ethics.org/publications-about-wild-animal-suffering/ Publications about wild animal suffering]

~~==References==~~

~~{{Reflist|30em}}~~

~~----- OLD -----~~

~~This is a '''timeline of the movement to reduce [[wikipedia:wild-animal suffering|wild-animal suffering]]''' (sometimes also called the "WAS" or "RWAS" movement).~~

~~==Big picture==~~

~~{| class="sortable wikitable"~~

~~! Year/period !! Key developments~~

|-

| 1800s–1970 || Wild-animal suffering is occasionally mentioned by philosophers as an example of the amorality of nature. In general, there is little discussion of whether humans should intervene to improve the situation.

|-

| 1970–2000 || After the emergence of the contemporary animal rights/welfare movement, wild-animal suffering is discussed by animal rights philosophers and their critics. The critics consider intervention in nature a reductio ad absurdum of animal rights, while some animal rights authors take it to be a serious moral issue.

|-

| 2000–present || Online communities dedicated to utilitarian ethics and effective altruism discuss wild-animal suffering as a serious issue. Activists begin forming organizations dedicated to WAS research and outreach. The academic moral philosophy community also continues debating the issue.

|-

|}

~~==Full timeline==~~

~~{| class="sortable wikitable"~~

~~! Year !! Month and date !! Event type !! Details~~

|-

| 1851 || || Publication || Arthur Schopenhauer compares the pleasure experienced by a predator to the pain experienced by the prey to argue that the world contains more pain than pleasure.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schopenhauer|first1=Arthur|title=On the Sufferings of the World|date=1851|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Sufferings_of_the_World|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720223325/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Sufferings_of_the_World|archivedate=2018-07-20|deadurl=no|quote=The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes to see shortly whether this statement is true, let him compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other.}}</ref>

|-

| 1856 || {{dts|July 13}} || Publication || In a letter to Joseph Dalton Hooker, Charles Darwin discusses the wastefulness and cruelty of nature as an evidence against the existence of a benevolent God.<ref name="Murray">{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Michael|title=Nature Red in Tooth and Claw: Theism and the Problem of Animal Suffering|date=April 30, 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199596324|url=https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Red-Tooth-Claw-Suffering/dp/0199596328/}}</ref>

|-

| 1860 || {{dts|May 22}} || Publication || In a letter to Asa Gray, Charles Darwin cites wild-animal suffering—in particular, the suffering inflicted by parasitic wasps to caterpillar hosts—as an example of the theological [[wikipedia:problem of evil|problem of evil]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-2814 | title=Letter 2814 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 22 May [1860] |date= |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721013446/https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-2814.xml |archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no|quote=With respect to the theological view of the question; this is always painful to me.— I am bewildered.— I had no intention to write atheistically. But I own that I cannot see, as plainly as others do, & as I [should] wish to do, evidence of design & beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent & omnipotent God would have designedly created the [[wikipedia:Ichneumonidae|Ichneumonidæ]] with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice.}}</ref>

|-

| 1874 || || Publication || John Stuart Mill's essay "On Nature" is published posthumously. The essay discusses the amorality and cruelty of nature and argues that humans should struggle against it.<ref>JS Mill. On Nature.</ref>

|-

| 1973 || {{dts|June 14}} || Publication || [[wikipedia:Peter Singer|Peter Singer]] responds to a question about predation, arguing against interference in practice because the long-term consequences of intervention cannot be predicted. However, he accepts that intervention to reduce wild-animal suffering would be morally justified if one could be reasonably confident that the long-term effects would be positive.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Singer|first1=Peter|title=Food for Thought|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1973/jun/14/food-for-thought/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509205824/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1973/06/14/food-for-thought/|archivedate=2018-05-09|deadurl=no|journal=The New York Review of Books|date=June 14, 1973}}</ref>

|-

| 1979 || || Publication || [[wikipedia:Stephen R. L. Clark|Stephen R. L. Clark]]'s article "The Rights of Wild Things" is published. It argues that humans should defend wild animals against unusually large dangers, but should not try to regulate all of nature.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/00201747908601871|last1=Clark|first1=Stephen R. L.|title= The Rights of Wild Things|journal=Inquiry|volume=22|number=1-4|pages=171-188|year=1979|publisher=Routledge|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Clark%20-%20The%20rights%20of%20wild%20things.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722002829/http://www.stafforini.com/docs/Clark%20-%20The%20rights%20of%20wild%20things.pdf|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no|quote=It has been argued that if non‐human animals had rights we should be obliged to defend them against predators. I contend that this either does not follow, follows in the abstract but not in practice, or is not absurd. We should defend non‐humans against large or unusual dangers, when we can, but should not claim so much authority as to regulate all the relationships of wild things.}}</ref>

|-

| 1980 || || Publication || Environmental philosopher [[wikipedia:J. Baird Callicott|J. Baird Callicott]]'s article "Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair" is published. It discusses conflicts between animal liberation and environmental ethics.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Callicott|first1=J. Baird|title=Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair|journal=Environmental Ethics|date=1980|volume=2|issue=4|pages=311–338|doi=10.5840/enviroethics19802424|url=http://www.pdcnet.org/8525737F00580E30/file/8813D88B6BDC1D56C12573E50035E78D/$FILE/enviroethics_1980_0002_0004_0023_0050.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409171357/https://www.pdcnet.org/8525737F00580E30/file/8813D88B6BDC1D56C12573E50035E78D/$FILE/enviroethics_1980_0002_0004_0023_0050.pdf|archivedate=2018-04-09|deadurl=no}}</ref>

|-

| 1984 || (summer) || Publication || Environmental philosopher Mark Sagoff's article "Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics: Bad Marriage, Quick Divorce" is published.<ref name=Sagoff1984>{{cite journal|last=Sagoff|first=Mark|title=Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics: Bad Marriage, Quick Divorce|journal=Osgode Hall Law Journal|year=1984|volume=22|issue=2|pages=297–307|url=https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1936&context=ohlj|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602215206/https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1936&context=ohlj|archivedate=2016-06-02|deadurl=no}}</ref> The article argues that animal liberation and environmental ethics are incompatible. It claims that animal liberationists may be committed to supporting large-scale intervention to reduce wild-animal suffering, and argues that this should be taken as a reductio if one supports environmental ethics.

|-

| 1987 || || Publication || Animal rights philosopher [[wikipedia:Steve Sapontzis|Steve Sapontzis]]'s article "Predation" is published in ''Ethics and Animals''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sapontzis |first1=Steve F. |title=Predation |journal=Ethics and Animals |date=1984 |volume=5 |issue=2 |doi=10.15368/ea.1984v5n2.1 |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/ethicsandanimals/vol5/iss2/4/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712170231/https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/ethicsandanimals/vol5/iss2/4/ |archivedate=2018-07-12 |deadurl=no |language=en |issn=0197-9094}}</ref>

|-

| 1991 || || Publication || Deep ecologist [[wikipedia:Arne Naess|Arne Naess]] publishes an article arguing that humans should intervene in some cases of wild-animal suffering.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Naess|first1=Arne|title=Should We Try to Relieve Clear Cases of Suffering in Nature?|journal=Pan Ecology|date=1991|volume=6|pages=1–5|url=https://www.abolitionist.com/reprogramming/suffering-nature.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120150703/https://www.abolitionist.com/reprogramming/suffering-nature.pdf|archivedate=2016-11-20|deadurl=no}}</ref>

|-

| 1993 || {{dts|June}} || Publication || David Olivier publishes the article "Pourquoi je ne suis pas écologiste" (Why I am not an environmentalist) in the French animal rights journal ''Les Cahiers antispécistes''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |title=Pourquoi je ne suis pas écologiste |trans-title= Why I am not an environmentalist |journal= Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=June 1993 |volume=7 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/pourquoi-je-ne-suis-pas-ecologiste/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016183648/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/pourquoi-je-ne-suis-pas-ecologiste/ |archivedate=2017-10-16 | deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

|-

| 1995 || || Publication || Economist [[wikipedia:Yew-Kwang Ng|Yew-Kwang Ng]]'s paper "Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering" is published in ''Biology and Philosophy''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ng|first=Yew-Kwang|title=Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering|journal=Biology and Philosophy|year=1995|volume=10|issue=3|pages=255–285|url=https://www.stafforini.com/library/ng-1995.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622113129/https://www.stafforini.com/library/ng-1995.pdf|archivedate=2018-06-22|deadurl=no|doi=10.1007/BF00852469}}</ref> Ng introduces the term "welfare biology" (cf. [[wikipedia:conservation biology|conservation biology]]), which he defines as the positive study of the well-being of affectively sentient individuals. He discusses which species possess affective sentience. Ng then mentions that many species produce a large number of offspring, only a few of which survive to maturity. The paper argues that non-survivors suffer negative welfare. Since non-survivors greatly outnumber survivors, Ng considers this evidence in favor of the "Buddhist premise" (that wild animals experience more total suffering than happiness).

|-

| 1995 || || Publication || [[wikipedia:David Pearce (philosopher)|David Pearce]] publishes his transhumanist manifesto ''The Hedonistic Imperative'', which argues that biotechnology can and should be used to eliminate the experience of suffering.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pearce, David|title=The Hedonistic Imperative|url=https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527232626/https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archivedate=2018-05-27|deadurl=no|date=1995|publisher=hedweb.com}}</ref> It includes a section on wild-animal suffering.

|-

| 1996 || December || Publication || ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' publishes its 14th edition, which is dedicated to discussing the problem of predation and human intervention in nature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |last2=Bonnardel |first2=Yves |title=Éditorial |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=December 1996 |volume=14 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/editorial-14/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721033959/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/editorial-14/ |archivedate=2018-07-21 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref> It features articles by David Olivier and Yves Bonnardel, as well as a translation of an article by Steve Sapontzis. For example, one article by Yves Bonnardel is entitled "Contre l’apartheid des espèces: À propos de la prédation et de l’opposition entre écologie et libération animale" ("Against the apartheid of species: On predation and the conflict between ecology and animal liberation").<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bonnardel |first1=Yves |title=Contre l’apartheid des espèces |trans-title=Against the apartheid of species |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=December 1996 |volume=14 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contre-lapartheid-des-especes/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003100009/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contre-lapartheid-des-especes/ |archivedate=2017-10-03 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

|-

| 1998 || {{dts|October 20}} || Presentation || David Olivier of ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' discusses wild-animal suffering at a debate at the Maison de l’Écologie in Lyon.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |title= Contribution au débat à la maison de l’écologie |trans-title=Contribution to the debate at the Maison de l’Écologie |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=April 1999 |volume=17 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contribution-au-debat-a-la-maison-de-lecologie/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102133652/http://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org:80/contribution-au-debat-a-la-maison-de-lecologie/ |archivedate=2018-01-02 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

|-

| 2003 || (summer) || Publication || [[wikipedia:Tyler Cowen|Tyler Cowen]]'s paper "Policing Nature" is published in ''Environmental Ethics''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cowen|first=Tyler|title=Policing Nature|journal=Environment Ethics|year=2003|volume=25|issue=2|pages=169–182|doi=10.5840/enviroethics200325231|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Cowen%20-%20Policing%20nature.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317182237/https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Cowen%20-%20Policing%20nature.pdf|archivedate=2018-03-17|deadurl=no}}</ref> Cowen gives arguments from utilitarian, rights-based, and holistic moral perspectives in support of policing nature. He criticizes the argument that humans should refrain from interfering in nature because it is hard to predict the results of intervention. Cowen discusses predator population reduction as a possible intervention.

|-

| 2005 || {{dts|May}} || || Brian Tomasik first begins to think about animal welfare after reading essays by Peter Singer.<ref name="howistarted">{{cite web|first1=Brian|last1=Tomasik|website=Essays on Reducing Suffering|title=How I Started Writing about Wild-Animal Suffering|date= 10 August 2012|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/how-i-started-writing-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721225830/http://reducing-suffering.org/how-i-started-writing-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

|-

| 2005 || {{dts|July}} || || Brian Tomasik reads Bernard E. Rollin's ''Animal Rights & Human Morality'', which introduces him to the possibility of insect sentience.<ref name="howistarted" /> He writes, "I was completely startled to realize this possibility and spent the next several minutes contemplating how much suffering the world would contain if this were true. The spider's webs in my basement began to take on a new, horrible significance."

|-

| 2005 || {{dts|October 17}} || || Brian Tomasik writes a letter to Peter Singer, asking him whether he thinks insects are sentient and whether they experience a net-negative balance of suffering over happiness.<ref name="howistarted" />

|-

| 2005 || {{dts|June}} || || Brian Tomasik hears about and reads David Pearce's Hedonistic Imperative.<ref name="howistarted" /> He writes, "This piece helped me see how bad suffering was and may have been one of the last straws helping me see that life in the wild was far below hedonic zero on average, especially when the pain of death was taken into account."

|-

~~| 2006 || {{dts|June}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik's collection of essays on utilitarianism is first posted to his website at utilitarian-essays.com.~~

|-

| 2006 || (summer) || Publication || Brian Tomasik writes "Calculations Regarding Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Calculations Regarding Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wild-animal-suffering-calculations.pdf |date=2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412175611/https://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wild-animal-suffering-calculations.pdf| archivedate=2015-04-12 |deadurl=no |website=A Collection of Essays on Utilitarianism}}</ref>

|-

| 2006 || {{dts|December}} || Community || [[wikipedia:Seth Baum|Seth Baum]] starts a utilitarian community blog Felicifia.com.<ref>{{cite web |title=Felificia Blog Post List |url=http://utilitarianism.wikia.com/wiki/Felificia_Blog_Post_List |website=Utilitarianism Wiki |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716035556/http://utilitarianism.wikia.com/wiki/Felificia_Blog_Post_List |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |language=en}}</ref> He had previously had a personal blog under the same name. Wild-animal suffering would become a popular topic of discussion on the site and its successor forum Felicifia.org.<ref>{{cite web|title=Google search results for wild animal suffering on Felicifia|url=https://google.com/search?hl=en&q=wild+animal+suffering+site%3Afelicifia.org|website=google.com|archiveurl=https://archive.is/60u51|archivedate=17 March 2018|deadurl=no|language=en}}</ref>

|-

| 2006 || {{dts|April 29}} || Publication || Matthew Clarke and Yew-Kwang Ng publish an article analyzing a kangaroo cull from the perspective of welfare biology.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Clarke|first1=Matthew|last2=Ng|first2=Yew-Kwang|title=Population Dynamics and Animal Welfare: Issues Raised by the Culling of Kangaroos in Puckapunyal|journal=Social Choice and Welfare|date=29 April 2006|volume=27|issue=2|pages=407–422|doi=10.1007/s00355-006-0137-8|url=https://stafforini.com/docs/Clarke%20&%20Ng%20-%20Population%20dynamics%20and%20animal%20welfare.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317234706/https://stafforini.com/docs/Clarke%20&%20Ng%20-%20Population%20dynamics%20and%20animal%20welfare.pdf|archivedate=2018-03-17|deadurl=no}}</ref>

|-

| 2006 || {{dts|July}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik writes "The Predominance of Wild-Animal Suffering over Happiness: An Open Problem".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=The Predominance of Wild-Animal Suffering over Happiness: An Open Problem |url=http://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/wild-animals_2015-02-28.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716035926/https://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/wild-animals_2015-02-28.pdf |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=August 2007 |website=A Collection of Essays on Utilitarianism}}</ref>

|-

| 2008 || (early) || || Oscar Horta writes to Brian Tomasik to cite one of his articles. Horta and Tomasik agreed that wild-animal welfare was important, and Horta began to discuss it with his Spanish / Latin American friends.<ref name="howistarted" />

|-

| 2009 || {{dts|April}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Do Bugs Feel Pain?".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Do Bugs Feel Pain? |url=http://reducing-suffering.org/do-bugs-feel-pain/ |website=Essays on Reducing Suffering |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705034003/http://reducing-suffering.org/do-bugs-feel-pain/ |archivedate=2018-07-05 |deadurl=no |date=April 2009}}</ref>

|-

| 2009 || {{dts|June 4}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Caring about Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tomasik|first1=Brian|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/caring-about-animal-suffering/|title=Caring about Animal Suffering|date=4 June 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206162913/http://reducing-suffering.org:80/caring-about-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2017-12-06|deadurl=no}}</ref>

|-

| 2009 || {{dts|July}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik writes the first version of his article "The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web|website=Foundational Research Institute|url=https://foundational-research.org/the-importance-of-wild-animal-suffering/|first1=Brian|last1=Tomasik|title=The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705014223/https://foundational-research.org/the-importance-of-wild-animal-suffering/|date=July 2009|archivedate=2018-07-05|deadurl=no}}</ref>

|-

| 2009 || || Publication || David Pearce publishes "Reprogramming Predators".<ref>https://www.hedweb.com/abolitionist-project/reprogramming-predators.html</ref> The post receives criticism from ScienceBlogs.<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/08/28/predatory-animals-are-bad/</ref>

|-

| 2009 || December 25 || Community || Brian Tomasik starts the Felicifia thread "How Best to Encourage Concern for Wild Animals?".<ref>{{cite web|website=Felicifia|url=https://felicifia.org/viewtopic.php?t=223|title=How Best to Encourage Concern for Wild Animals?|date=December 25, 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106152849/https://felicifia.org/viewtopic.php?t=223|archivedate=2016-11-06|deadurl=no}}</ref>

|-

| 2010 || {{dts|March 2}} || Community || Felicifia member spindoctor starts the thread "Lobby group for wild animal suffering?".<ref>{{cite web |title=Lobby group for wild animal suffering? |url=https://felicifia.org/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=245 |website=Felicifia |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106153444/https://felicifia.org/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=245 |archivedate=2016-11-06 |date=March 2, 2010 |deadurl=no |language=en-gb}}</ref>

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| 2010 || {{dts|May 10}} || Community || Brian Tomasik considers forming an organization to promote concern for wild-animal suffering, and solicits advice on Felicifia.<ref>https://felicifia.org/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=270</ref>

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| 2010 || {{dts|April 19}} || Community || Brian Tomasik creates the Facebook group "Most of the world's animal suffering occurs in the wild".<ref>{{cite web |title=Reducing Wild-Animal Suffering – Members |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/suffering.in.nature/members/ |website=Facebook |accessdate=16 July 2018 |language=en |quote="Brian Tomasik: Created group on April 19, 2010"|registration=yes}}</ref><ref name="howistarted" />

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~~| 2010 || {{dts|September 15}} || Project || The domain name animal-ethics.org is registered.<ref>https://whois.domaintools.com/animal-ethics.org</ref>~~

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| 2010 || {{dts|September 19}} || Publication || Jeff McMahan's piece "The Meat Eaters" is published in the New York Times.<ref>{{cite news|last=McMahan|first=Jeff|title=The Meat Eaters|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/the-meat-eaters/?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716053103/https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/the-meat-eaters/?_r=0|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=McMahan|first=Jeff|title=Predators: A Response|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/predators-a-response/?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716053311/https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/predators-a-response/?_r=0|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref> He argues in favor of intervention in nature, and specifically reducing predation.

|-

| 2010 || || Publication || Philosopher Oscar Horta's article "Debunking the idyllic view of natural processes" is published.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Horta|first=Oscar|title=Debunking the Idyllic View of Natural Processes: Population Dynamics and Suffering in the Wild|journal=Télos|year=2010|volume=17|issue=1|pages=73–88|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Horta%20-%20Debunking%20the%20idyllic%20view%20of%20natural%20processes.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716083940/https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Horta%20-%20Debunking%20the%20idyllic%20view%20of%20natural%20processes.pdf|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2012 || {{dts|October 30}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Medicine vs. Deep Ecology", which responds to the argument that we should not intervene in nature because ecosystems are complex systems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/medicine-vs-deep-ecology/|last1=Tomasik|first1=Brian|title= Medicine vs. Deep Ecology |date=30 October 2012|website=Essays on Reducing Suffering|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721225125/http://reducing-suffering.org/medicine-vs-deep-ecology/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2012 || {{dts|May 24}} || Community || The Facebook group is renamed to "Reducing Wild-Animal Suffering" following a poll.<ref>{{cite web |title=Best new name for this group (and/or movement)? |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/suffering.in.nature/permalink/430652663631204/ |archiveurl=https://archive.is/DHjcS |archivedate= 2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |website=Facebook — Reducing Wild-Animal Suffering |date=May 22, 2012}}</ref>

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| 2013 || {{dts|June 24}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Ideas for Volunteering to Reduce Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Ideas for Volunteering to Reduce Wild-Animal Suffering |url=http://reducing-suffering.org/ideas-for-volunteering-to-reduce-wild-animal-suffering/ |website=Essays on Reducing Suffering |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223025009/http://reducing-suffering.org/ideas-for-volunteering-to-reduce-wild-animal-suffering/ |archivedate=2017-12-23 |deadurl=no |date=24 June 2013}}</ref>

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| 2013 || {{dts|June 24}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Applied Welfare Biology and Why Wild-Animal Advocates Should Focus on Not Spreading Nature".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Applied Welfare Biology and Why Wild-Animal Advocates Should Focus on Not Spreading Nature |url=http://reducing-suffering.org/applied-welfare-biology-wild-animal-advocates-focus-spreading-nature/ |website=Essays on Reducing Suffering |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622113142/http://reducing-suffering.org/applied-welfare-biology-wild-animal-advocates-focus-spreading-nature/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=24 June 2013}}</ref>

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| 2013 || {{dts|September 4}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Intention-Based Moral Reactions Distort Intuitions about Wild Animals".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Intention-Based Moral Reactions Distort Intuitions about Wild Animals |url=https://reducing-suffering.org/intention-based-moral-reactions-distort-intuitions-about-wild-animals/ |website=Essays on Reducing Suffering |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622113135/https://reducing-suffering.org/intention-based-moral-reactions-distort-intuitions-about-wild-animals/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=September 4, 2013}}</ref>

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| 2013 || {{dts|November}}? || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Crop Cultivation and Wild Animals".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tomasik|first1=Brian|title=Crop Cultivation and Wild Animals|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/crop-cultivation-and-wild-animals/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721224207/https://reducing-suffering.org/crop-cultivation-and-wild-animals/|archivedate=2018-07-21| website=Essays on Reducing Suffering|date=2013|deadurl=no}}</ref>

|-

| 2013 || {{dts|December 3}} || Presentation || Adriano Mannino and Ruairí Donnelly give a talk on wild-animal suffering at the University of Zurich. <ref>{{cite web |last1=Mannino |first1=Adriano |last2=Donnelly |first2=Ruairí |title=Talk: Should we intervene in nature to help wild animals? |url=https://sentience-politics.org/should-we-intervene-in-nature-to-help-wild-animals/ |website=Sentience Politics |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721073005/https://sentience-politics.org/should-we-intervene-in-nature-to-help-wild-animals/ |archivedate=2018-07-21 |deadurl=no |quote=The talk was held at the University of Zurich on December 6, 2013.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title="Reducing Wild Animal Suffering" by Adriano Mannino & Ruairí Donnelly |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aa6g1y4l8I |date=3 January 2014 |website=YouTube |author=frei denken uni basel}}</ref>

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| 2013 || {{dts|December 15}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Does the Animal-Rights Movement Encourage Wilderness Preservation?".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Does the Animal-Rights Movement Encourage Wilderness Preservation? |url=https://reducing-suffering.org/does-the-animal-rights-movement-encourage-wilderness-preservation/ |website=Essays on Reducing Suffering |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622173552/https://reducing-suffering.org/does-the-animal-rights-movement-encourage-wilderness-preservation/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=December 15, 2013}}</ref>

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| 2013 || || Project || [[wikipedia:Sentience Politics|Sentience Politics]], an "anti-speciesist political think-tank", is founded as a subdivision of the Effective Altruism Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Our Organization |url=https://sentience-politics.org/about/ |website=Sentience Politics |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617041413/https://sentience-politics.org/about/ |archivedate=2018-06-17 |deadurl=no |quote=Sentience Politics was founded as a project of the Effective Altruism Foundation (EAF) in 2013.}}</ref> One of the issues originally considered by the project is wild-animal suffering.

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~~| 2013 || || Project || Animal Ethics is registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit.<ref>https://www.guidestar.org/profile/46-1062870</ref>~~

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| 2014 || {{dts|January 19}} || Project || The first (non-placeholder) Wayback Machine snapshot of Animal Ethics is from this date.<ref>{{cite web |title=HOME {{!}} Animal Ethics |website=Wayback Machine |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119085913/https://animal-ethics.org |language=en |date=19 January 2014|archiveurl=https://archive.fo/bog0O|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref> Wild-animal suffering is one of their focus areas. Leah McKelvie and Oscar Horta are two of its three founders.<ref>{{cite web|title=Conversation with Leah McKelvie and Oscar Horta of Animal Ethics|url=https://animalcharityevaluators.org/charity-reviews/charity-conversations/leah-mckelvie-and-oscar-horta-of-animal-ethics-2017/|website=Animal Charity Evaluators|date=August 14, 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716055525/https://animalcharityevaluators.org/charity-reviews/charity-conversations/leah-mckelvie-and-oscar-horta-of-animal-ethics-2017/|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2014 || {{dts|July 8}} || Publication || The Wikipedia article "Wild animal suffering" is published.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wikipedia|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wild_animal_suffering&oldid=616156599|date=8 July 2014|title=Wild animal suffering|archiveurl=https://archive.is/7y09O|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no|quote=Ruairí Donnelly moved page User:Ruairí Donnelly/sandbox to Wild animal suffering: Article is ready to be published}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|February 3}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "The Importance of Insect Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=The Importance of Insect Suffering |url=https://reducing-suffering.org/the-importance-of-insect-suffering/ |website=Essays on Reducing Suffering |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630170049/https://reducing-suffering.org/the-importance-of-insect-suffering/ |archivedate=2018-06-30 |deadurl=no |date=February 3, 2015}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|February}} || Podcast || Brian Tomasik is interviewed about wild-animal suffering on the podcast [[wikipedia:Reality Check (podcast)|The Reality Check]].<ref>http://www.trcpodcast.com/trc-336-american-sniper-brian-tomasik-on-wild-animal-suffering-rent-to-own/</ref><ref>http://www.trcpodcast.com/trc-337-women-in-science-brian-tomasik-on-wild-animal-suffering-part-2-blue-blood/</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|March 5}} || Project || Animal Ethics announces its first Essay Prize on suffering in nature and intervention, with a reward of $1,500.<ref>{{cite web |title=Animal Ethics Essay Prize |url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/1st-essay-prize/ |website=Animal Ethics |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928161226/https://www.animal-ethics.org/1st-essay-prize/ |archivedate=2017-09-28 |deadurl=no |date=5 March 2015}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|April 12}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Why Vegans Should Care About Wild Animal Suffering" on the website Reasonable Vegan.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Brian|last1=Tomasik|website=Reasonable Vegan|title= Why Vegans Should Care About Wild Animal Suffering |url=http://rvgn.org/2015/04/12/why-vegans-should-care-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721225444/http://rvgn.org/2015/04/12/why-vegans-should-care-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|May 1}} || Publication || Magnus Vinding publishes the e-book "Speciesism: Why It Is Wrong and the Implications of Rejecting It". It argues that reducing wild-animal suffering is a moral imperative.<ref>{{cite book|title=Speciesism: Why It Is Wrong and the Implications of Rejecting It |first1=Magnus|last1=Vinding|date=May 1, 2015|publisher=Smashwords|url=https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/539674|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/715bd4E1l|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|May}} || || The philosophy journal ''Relations: Beyond Anthropocentrism'' publishes a special double volume on the ethics of wild-animal suffering and intervention in nature, edited by Animal Ethics staff.<ref>{{cite web|title=Academic work on wild animal suffering edited by Animal Ethics activists|url=http://www.animal-ethics.org/academic-work-on-wild-animal-suffering-edited-by-animal-ethics-activists/|website=Animal Ethics|date=23 December 2015}}</ref>

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~~| 2015 || {{dts|September}} || Publication || Simon Knutsson publishes "How Good or Bad Is the Life of an Insect?".<ref>http://www.simonknutsson.com/how-good-or-bad-is-the-life-of-an-insect</ref>~~

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| 2015 || {{dts|October 31}} || Community || The /r/wildanimalsuffering subreddit is created.<ref>{{cite web |title=r/wildanimalsuffering |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/wildanimalsuffering/ |website=reddit |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517203730/https://www.reddit.com/r/wildanimalsuffering/ |archivedate=2017-05-17 |deadurl=no |language=en}}</ref>

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~~| 2015 || {{dts|November 5}} || Project || The domain name utility.farm is registered.<ref>https://whois.domaintools.com/utility.farm</ref>~~

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| 2015 || {{dts|November 28}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Estimating Aggregate Wild-Animal Suffering from Reproductive Age and Births per Female".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tomasik|first1=Brian|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/estimating-aggregate-wild-animal-suffering-from-reproductive-age-and-births-per-female/|title= Estimating Aggregate Wild-Animal Suffering from Reproductive Age and Births per Female|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721224647/http://reducing-suffering.org/estimating-aggregate-wild-animal-suffering-from-reproductive-age-and-births-per-female/|archivedate=2018-07-21|date=28 November 2015|deadurl=no|website=Essays on Reducing Suffering}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|December 14}} || Publication || Vox publishes an article by [[wikipedia:Jacy Reese|Jacy Reese]] arguing in favor of reducing wild-animal suffering.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Reese|first1=Jacy|title=Wild animals endure illness, injury, and starvation. We should help.|url=https://www.vox.com/2015/12/14/9873012/wild-animals-suffering|publisher=Vox|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716044214/http://www.vox.com:80/2015/12/14/9873012/wild-animals-suffering|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no|date=14 December 2015}}</ref> This prompts critical responses from Motherboard and the [[wikipedia:National Audubon Society|National Audubon Society]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gunther|first1=Kristen|title=Nature Is Violent|url=https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qkjpwp/nature-is-violent|website=Motherboard|language=en-us|date=15 December 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230114514/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qkjpwp/nature-is-violent|archivedate=2017-12-30|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Matthews|first1=Susan|title=Nature Can't Exist Without Suffering—And We Can't Change That|url=http://www.audubon.org/news/nature-cant-exist-without-suffering-and-we-cant-change|website=Audubon|language=en|date=16 December 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721045711/https://www.audubon.org/news/nature-cant-exist-without-suffering-and-we-cant-change|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|December 26}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "How Wild-Caught Fishing Affects Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tomasik|first1=Brian|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/wild-caught-fishing-affects-wild-animal-suffering/|date= 26 December 2015|website=Essays on Reducing Suffering|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721224816/http://reducing-suffering.org/wild-caught-fishing-affects-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no|title=How Wild-Caught Fishing Affects Wild-Animal Suffering}}</ref>

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| 2015 || {{dts|December}} || Project || [[Timeline of Animal Charity Evaluators|Animal Charity Evaluators]] announces that Animal Ethics is one of their standout charities.<ref>https://animalcharityevaluators.org/charity-review/animal-ethics/2015-dec/</ref>

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~~| 2016 || {{dts|February}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "How Painful Is Death from Starvation or Dehydration?".~~

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| 2016 || {{dts|March 15}} || Publication || Catia Faria submits her PhD thesis "Animal Ethics Goes Wild: The Problem of Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Faria |first1=Catia |title=Animal ethics goes wild: the problem of wild animal suffering and intervention in nature |date=2016-03-15 |publisher=Universitat Pompeu Fabra |url=https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/385919 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616130628/https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/385919 |archivedate=2018-06-16 |deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|March 20}} || Publication || Magnus Vinding publishes the e-book "The Speciesism of Leaving Nature Alone, and the Theoretical Case for “Wildlife Anti-Natalism”".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Speciesism of Leaving Nature Alone, and the Theoretical Case for “Wildlife Anti-Natalism”|first1=Magnus|last1=Vinding|date=March 20, 2016|publisher=Smashwords|url=https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/624122|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/715bJLXWP|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|March 23}} || Project || Animal Ethics announces that none of the submissions to its Essay Prize met the standards they expected, and the prize was not awarded. However, they gave a $1,500 grant to the author of the best paper, Meera Inglis from the Department of Politics of the University of Sheffield, to continue her research on invasive species.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/announcement-regarding-the-animal-ethics-essay-prize/|website=Animal Ethics|date=23 March 2016|title=Announcement regarding the Animal Ethics Essay Prize|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721050403/https://www.animal-ethics.org/announcement-regarding-the-animal-ethics-essay-prize/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|April 22}} || Publication || Michael Dickens publishes the blog post "The Myth that Reducing Wild Animal Suffering Is Intractable".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickens |first1=Michael |title=The Myth that Reducing Wild Animal Suffering Is Intractable |url=https://mdickens.me/2016/04/22/the_myth_that_reducing_wild_animal_suffering_is_intractable/ |website=Philosophical Multicore |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622125415/https://mdickens.me/2016/04/22/the_myth_that_reducing_wild_animal_suffering_is_intractable/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=April 22, 2016}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|May 9}} || Publication || The article "The ethics of wild animal suffering" by Ole Martin Moen is published.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moen|first1=Ole Martin|title=The ethics of wild animal suffering|journal=Etikk i praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics|volume=10|number=1|pages=91-104|doi=10.5324/eip.v10i1.1972|url=http://www.olemartinmoen.com/wp-content/uploads/TheEthicsofWildAnimalSuffering.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722003523/http://www.olemartinmoen.com/wp-content/uploads/TheEthicsofWildAnimalSuffering.pdf|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no|date=May 9, 2016}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|May}} || Publication || Sentience Politics publishes the policy paper "Reducing suffering among invertebrates such as insects" by Simon Knutsson.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://ea-foundation.org/files/reducing-suffering-invertebrates.pdf|title=Reducing suffering among invertebrates such as insects|first1=Simon|last1=Knutsson|journal=Sentience Politics|volume=1|pages=1-18|date=May 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320001509/https://ea-foundation.org/files/reducing-suffering-invertebrates.pdf|archivedate=2018-03-20|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|June}} || Project || The [[timeline of Foundational Research Institute|Foundational Research Institute]] publishes research plans announcing that it is "greatly increasing research on wild-animal suffering".<ref>{{cite web|title=FRI: Research Plans 2016 — Research on wild-animal suffering and ways to reduce it|url=https://foundational-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wild-animal-suffering-research-plans-2016.pdf|website=Foundational Research Institute|date=June 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825210337/https://foundational-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wild-animal-suffering-research-plans-2016.pdf|archivedate=2016-08-25|deadurl=no}}</ref> However, this never came to pass and WAS is not a focus area of FRI as of 2018.

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| 2016 || {{dts|August 25}} || Publication || Michael Dickens publishes the blog post "Why the Open Philanthropy Project Should Prioritize Wild Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickens |first1=Michael |title=Why the Open Philanthropy Project Should Prioritize Wild Animal Suffering |url=http://effective-altruism.com/ea/10t/why_the_open_philanthropy_project_should/ |website=Effective Altruism Forum |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716061454/http://effective-altruism.com/ea/10t/why_the_open_philanthropy_project_should/ |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |language=en |date=August 26, 2016}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|September 1}} || Publication || Phillipp Ryf submits his Master's Thesis "Environmental Ethics: The Case of Wild Animals".<ref>http://www.academia.edu/28500092/Environmental_Ethics_The_Case_of_Wild_Animals</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|September 5}} || Publication || Animal Charity Evaluators publishes the results of an exploratory (n=612) Mechanical Turk study. The study is about the effects of vegan advocacy on attitudes towards wild-animal suffering. ACE claims that the results suggest that environmental messaging makes people less supportive of intervention. On the other hand, the post assuages WAS advocates' concerns that animal rights messaging does so.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/wild-animal-suffering-survey-report/|first1=Luke|last1=Hecht|title=Wild Animal Suffering Survey Report|website=Animal Charity Evaluators|date=September 5, 2016|quote=This study provides some evidence that encouraging people to reduce their consumption of animal products on environmental grounds makes them less supportive of intervening in nature to alleviate wild-animal suffering. If true, this suggests that animal advocates who are concerned about wild animals should place less emphasis on the environmental harms of animal agriculture. The results should reduce concerns that cruelty-focused farmed animal advocacy messages may reduce people’s willingness to help wild animals.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722013227/https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/wild-animal-suffering-survey-report/|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|September}} || Presentation || Stijn Bruers and Stefan Torges give talks about wild-animal suffering at the 2016 International Animal Rights Conference.<ref>{{cite web |author1=VeganKanal |title=Stijn Bruers - The moral blind spots in the animal rights community (IARC 2016) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtjKP42MkWY |website=YouTube|accessdate=16 July 2018 |date=10 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=VeganKanal |title=Stefan Torges - Wild animal suffering: Why 99% of wild animals die as babies already (IARC 2016) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G35tM1DP7B8 |website=YouTube |accessdate=16 July 2018|date=11 September 2016}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|November 15}} || Presentation || Peter Singer gives a talk on wild-animal suffering at the Princeton Environmental Institute.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Princeton Environmental Institute |title=The Suffering of Wild Animals: Should we do anything about it, and if so, what? – Peter Singer |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VYYHLH990A |website=YouTube |accessdate=16 July 2018 |date=21 November 2016}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|November 19}} || Project || Animal Ethics announces its second Essay Prize on suffering in nature and intervention, with a reward of $1,500.<ref>{{cite web |title=2nd Animal Ethics Essay Prize on Animal Suffering in the Wild |url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/2nd-essay-prize/ |website=Animal Ethics |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716080018/https://www.animal-ethics.org/2nd-essay-prize/ | archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=19 November 2016}}</ref>

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| 2016 || {{dts|November 25}} || Publication || Michael Plant writes a blog post critiquing arguments for the claim that wild animals experience net suffering.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Plant|first1=Michael|title=The Unproven (And Unprovable) Case For Wild Animal Suffering – Planting Happiness|url=https://www.plantinghappiness.co.uk/the-unproven-and-unprovable-case-for-wild-animal-suffering/|website=www.plantinghappiness.co.uk|date=25 November 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109005703/https://www.plantinghappiness.co.uk/the-unproven-and-unprovable-case-for-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2017-11-09|deadurl=no}}</ref> Brian Tomasik responds on his blog.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tomasik|first1=Brian|title=Is There Net Suffering in Nature? A Reply to Michael Plant {{!}} Essays on Reducing Suffering|url=https://reducing-suffering.org/net-suffering-nature-reply-michael-plant/|website=Essays on Reducing Suffering|date=28 November 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622134433/https://reducing-suffering.org/net-suffering-nature-reply-michael-plant/|archivedate=2018-06-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|April 5}} || Publication || Animal Charity Evaluators publishes another survey on animal advocacy messaging and attitudes towards wild-animal suffering.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/effects-of-farmed-animal-advocacy-messaging-on-attitudes-towards-policies-and-decisions-affecting-wild-animal-suffering/|first1=Kieran|last1=Greig|title=Effects of farmed animal advocacy messaging on attitudes towards policies and decisions affecting wild animal suffering|date=April 5, 2017|website=Animal Charity Evaluators|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722014714/https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/effects-of-farmed-animal-advocacy-messaging-on-attitudes-towards-policies-and-decisions-affecting-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|April 22}} || Project || Utility Farm publishes its first article, arguing for "An Ethic of Intervention" with regard to wild-animal suffering.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rowe |first1=Abraham |title=An Ethic of Intervention |url=https://www.utility.farm/words/2017/4/22/an-ethic-of-intervention |website=utility farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721065832/https://www.utility.farm/words/2017/4/22/an-ethic-of-intervention |archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|April 26}} || Project || Utility Farm announces its 2017 essay contest with a top prize of $1,500.<ref>{{cite web |title=Utility Farm has launched its 2017 essay contest |url=https://www.facebook.com/utilityfarm/posts/185977225255869 |website=Facebook |author1=Utility Farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716071130/https://m.facebook.com/utilityfarm/posts/185977225255869 |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |language=en |date=April 26, 2017}}</ref> The contest received no quality submissions, and the prize was not awarded.<ref>{{cite web |title=2017 essay contest |url=https://www.utility.farm/prize |website=utility farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716070800/https://www.utility.farm/prize |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|April}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard of Open Philanthropy Project allocates $30K from the animal welfare EA Fund to the Effective Altruism Foundation's research of wild-animal suffering, stating that he is impressed with their work but is unsure how tractable it will be. He also cites internal changes at EAF that left WAS research with no funding.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=April 2017: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds/animal-welfare/payouts/tI97LtH5AsIkgUa2IMCKi|website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=April 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|May 3}} || Community || Evan Gaensbauer creates the Facebook group "Wild Animal Welfare Project Discussion" as part of a larger attempt to build networks for new EA causes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wild Animal Welfare Project Discussion |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/wildanimalwelfareprojectdiscussion/ |website=Facebook |accessdate=16 July 2018}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|June}} || Project || Wild-Animal Suffering Research is split off from Sentience Politics as a separate organization under the Effective Altruism Foundation. Sentience Politics shifts gears to focus exclusively on political campaigns in Switzerland, and gains independence from EAF.<ref>{{cite web|title=Update on the future of Sentience Politics|url=https://ea-foundation.org/blog/update-on-the-future-of-sentience-politics/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622150519/https://ea-foundation.org/blog/update-on-the-future-of-sentience-politics/|archivedate=2018-06-22|deadurl=no|website=Effective Altruism Foundation|date=2 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Introducing the Wild-Animal Suffering Research Project|url=https://was-research.org/blog/introducing-wild-animal-suffering-research-project/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622125314/https://was-research.org/blog/introducing-wild-animal-suffering-research-project/|archivedate=2018-06-22|deadurl=no|website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research|date=20 July 2017}}</ref>

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~~| 2017 || {{dts|June 1}} || Project || The domain name was-research.org is registered.<ref>https://whois.domaintools.com/was-research.org</ref>~~

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~~| 2017 || {{dts|June 10}} || Publication || Utility Farm publishes "Keep (Known) Space Neutral" by Abraham Rowe.<ref>https://www.utility.farm/words/2017/6/10/keep-known-space-neutral</ref>~~

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| 2017 || {{dts|June 11}} || Publication || Utility Farm publishes "When Caring For Pets And Service Animals, Keep Other Animals In Mind" by Ari Benjamin.<ref>https://www.utility.farm/words/2017/6/11/caring-for-pets-and-service-animals</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|June 29}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes "An Analysis of Lethal Methods of Wild Animal Population Control: Vertebrates" by Persis Eskander.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eskander |first1=Persis |title=An Analysis of Lethal Methods of Wild Animal Population Control: Vertebrates |url=https://was-research.org/paper/analysis-lethal-methods-wild-animal-population-control-vertebrates/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622063816/https://was-research.org/paper/analysis-lethal-methods-wild-animal-population-control-vertebrates/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=29 June 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|July 5}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Which Stimuli Are Painful to Invertebrates?".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Which Stimuli Are Painful to Invertebrates? |url=https://reducing-suffering.org/which-stimuli-are-painful-to-invertebrates |website=Essays on Reducing Suffering |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716081441/https://reducing-suffering.org/which-stimuli-are-painful-to-invertebrates/ |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=July 5, 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|July 11}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes "An Analysis of Lethal Methods of Wild Animal Population Control: Invertebrates" by Persis Eskander.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eskander |first1=Persis |title=An Analysis of Lethal Methods of Wild Animal Population Control: Invertebrates |url=https://was-research.org/paper/analysis-lethal-methods-wild-animal-population-control-invertebrates/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622041152/https://was-research.org/paper/analysis-lethal-methods-wild-animal-population-control-invertebrates/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=11 July 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|July 12}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes "Euthanizing Elderly Elephants: An Impact Analysis" by Ozy Brennan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brennan |first1=Ozy |title=Euthanizing Elderly Elephants: An Impact Analysis |url=https://was-research.org/paper/euthanizing-elderly-elephants-impact-analysis/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705024059/https://was-research.org/paper/euthanizing-elderly-elephants-impact-analysis/ |archivedate=2018-07-05 |date=12 July 2017|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|July 13}} || Publication || Utility Farm publishes "Study: Effective Communication Strategies For Addressing Wild Animal Suffering" by Briana Schulzetenberg and Abraham Rowe, which found that WAS materials describing humans as "stewards of" or "participants in" nature were more effective than materials describing humans as "intervening" in nature.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schulzetenberg |first1=Briana |title=Study: Effective Communication Strategies For Addressing Wild Animal Suffering |url=https://www.utility.farm/words/2017/7/13/study-effective-communication-strategies-for-addressing-wild-animal-suffering |website=utility farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622041143/https://www.utility.farm/words/2017/7/13/study-effective-communication-strategies-for-addressing-wild-animal-suffering |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=July 13, 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|October 4}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes the blog post "We Have No Idea If There Are Cost-Effective Interventions Into Wild-Animal Suffering" by Ozy Brennan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brennan |first1=Ozy |title=We Have No Idea If There Are Cost-Effective Interventions Into Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://was-research.org/blog/no-idea-cost-effective-interventions-wild-animal-suffering/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622125316/https://was-research.org/blog/no-idea-cost-effective-interventions-wild-animal-suffering/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=4 October 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|October 12}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes the blog post "Infant Mortality and the Argument from Life History" by Ozy Brennan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brennan |first1=Ozy |title=Infant Mortality and the Argument from Life History |url=https://was-research.org/blog/infant-mortality-argument-life-history/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622125324/https://was-research.org/blog/infant-mortality-argument-life-history/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=12 October 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|October 18}} || Project || Utility Farm publishes "Reviewing 2017 and Looking to 2018" by Abraham Rowe.<ref>https://www.utility.farm/words/2017/10/18/reviewing-2017-and-looking-to-2018</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|November 10}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes "“Fit and Happy”: How Do We Measure Wild-Animal Suffering?" by Ozy Brennan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brennan |first1=Ozy |title="Fit and Happy": How Do We Measure Wild-Animal Suffering? |url=https://was-research.org/paper/fit-happy-measure-wild-animal-suffering/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716084603/https://was-research.org/paper/fit-happy-measure-wild-animal-suffering/ |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=10 November 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|November 22}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes "Parasite Load and Disease in Wild Animals" by Georgia Ray.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ray |first1=Georgia |title=Parasite Load and Disease in Wild Animals |url=https://was-research.org/paper/parasite-load-disease-wild-animals/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705014231/https://was-research.org/paper/parasite-load-disease-wild-animals/ |archivedate=2018-07-05 |deadurl=no |date=22 November 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|November 25}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes the blog post "Creating Welfare Biology: A Research Proposal" by Ozy Brennan.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brennan |first1=Ozy |title=Creating Welfare Biology: A Research Proposal |url=https://was-research.org/blog/creating-welfare-biology-research-proposal/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622063805/https://was-research.org/blog/creating-welfare-biology-research-proposal/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=25 November 2017}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|November}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard of Open Philanthropy Project allocates $50K from the animal welfare EA Fund to Wild-Animal Suffering Research.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=November 2017: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds/animal-welfare/payouts/3tRg1Hfwu46EQ8mskEGUOE |website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=November 2017|archiveurl=https://archive.is/Q2xyk|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2017 || (fall) || Project || Rebecca Raible is awarded a £4,710 grant from the Centre for Effective Altruism to research WAS intervention ideas and write an overview of wild-animal suffering.<ref>{{Cite web|title=EA Grants Fall 2017 Recipients|url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk/edit|website=Google Docs|archiveurl=https://archive.is/qGG7S|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2017 || {{dts|December 27}} || Publication || Animal Ethics announces the winner of its second Essay Prize, "Life-fates: meaningful categories to estimate animal suffering in the wild" by Brazilian scientists Wladimir J. Alonso and Cynthia Schuck-Paim.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/2nd-animal-ethics-essay-prize-announcement/|website=Animal Ethics|date=27 December 2017|title=2nd Animal Ethics Essay Prize Announcement|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721062246/https://www.animal-ethics.org/2nd-animal-ethics-essay-prize-announcement/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|January 19}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes the blog post "Invertebrate Sentience: Urgent But Understudied" by Georgia Ray.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ray |first1=Georgia |title=Invertebrate Sentience: Urgent But Understudied |url=https://was-research.org/blog/invertebrate-sentience-urgent-understudied/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622133420/https://was-research.org/blog/invertebrate-sentience-urgent-understudied/ |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=19 January 2018}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|January 24}} || Publication || Utility Farm publishes "Seven Broad Rules for Effective Discussions of Participation Ethics" by Abraham Rowe.<ref>https://www.utility.farm/words/2018/1/24/seven-broad-rules-for-effective-discussions-of-participation-ethics</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|February 12}} || Publication || The article "Wild animal suffering is intractable" by Nicolas Delon and Duncan Purves is published (online first).<ref>{{cite journal|title=Wild animal suffering is intractable|first1=Nicolas|last1=Delon|first2=Duncan|last2=Purves|journal=Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics|volume=31|number=2|pages=239–260|doi=10.1007/s10806-018-9722-y|url=https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s10806-018-9722-y?author_access_token=1swdXPwSdnovLiu7AhuWSve4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY7zip9eadT1-BeavUlSlmb3No6JmHPw3BxdHWJhe1o578fidt2Ra9PjnC2e_8UfRbKCnxQjqeCDcofCVx0FB0cnSun2xtiSbCanRrPx8FFYTg%3D%3D}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|February 13}} || Publication || Animal Charity Evaluators publishes the blog post "To reduce wild animal suffering we need to find out if the cause area is tractable" by Persis Eskander.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/to-reduce-wild-animal-suffering-we-need-to-find-out-if-the-cause-area-is-tractable/|title=To Reduce Wild Animal Suffering We Need to Find Out If the Cause Area Is Tractable|date=February 13, 2018|website=Animal Charity Evaluators|first1=Persis|last1=Eskander|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722010449/https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/to-reduce-wild-animal-suffering-we-need-to-find-out-if-the-cause-area-is-tractable/|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|February 16}} || Publication || Animal Ethics publishes their 2018 strategic plan, which includes initiating "the development of welfare biology in academia with some biologists and animal welfare scientists beginning to work in this field ".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/animal-ethics-2018-strategic-plan/|website=Animal Ethics|date=16 February 2018|title=Animal Ethics’s 2018 strategic plan|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721062755/https://www.animal-ethics.org/animal-ethics-2018-strategic-plan/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|February 23}} || Publication || Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes the blog post "Are seafood substitutes good for wild fish?" by Georgia Ray.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ray |first1=Georgia |title=Are seafood substitutes good for wild fish? |url=https://was-research.org/blog/seafood-substitutes-good-wild-fish/ |website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716084342/https://was-research.org/blog/seafood-substitutes-good-wild-fish/ |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=23 February 2018}}</ref>

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|| 2018 || {{dts|March 23}} || Project || Utility Farm announces the launch of Nature Ethics, a wild animal suffering outreach project.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rowe |first1=Abraham |title=Announcing Nature Ethics |url=https://www.utility.farm/words/2018/3/23/announcing-nature-ethics |website=utility farm |archiveurl=https://archive.fo/HuEBx |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=March 23, 2018}}</ref>

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|| 2018 || {{dts|March}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard allocates $100K to Wild-Animal Suffering Research via the EA Funds.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=March 2018: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds/animal-welfare/payouts/2ENqwtVsfWAw22eogwS4cG |website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=March 2018|archiveurl=https://archive.is/vrIVY|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|April 14}} || Podcast || Persis Eskander of Wild-Animal Suffering Research is interviewed about wild-animal suffering on the animal rights podcast Our Hen House.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sullivan |first1=Mariann |last2=Singer |first2=Jasmin |title=Episode 431: Persis Eskander and Nora Kramer |url=http://www.ourhenhouse.org/2018/04/episode-431-persis-eskander-and-nora-kramer/ |website=Our Hen House |accessdate=16 July 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716044902if_/http://www.ourhenhouse.org/podcastepisode431.mp3 |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=April 14, 2018}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|April 30}} || Publication || Animal Ethics publishes a bibliography of wild-animal suffering.<ref>{{cite web |title=Publications about wild animal suffering |url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/publications-about-wild-animal-suffering/ |website=Animal Ethics |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716073431/https://www.animal-ethics.org/publications-about-wild-animal-suffering/ |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=April 30, 2018}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|April}} || Publication || ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' publishes a volume devoted to wild-animal suffering.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Réduire la souffrance des animaux sauvages |trans-title=Reducing wild-animal suffering |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |volume=40 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/numero/40/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426234609/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/numero/40/|archivedate=2018-04-26|deadurl=no|language=fr-FR|date=April 2018}}</ref>

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|| 2018 || {{dts|May}} || Publication || ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' publishes a book entitled "Éliminer les animaux pour leur bien: promenade chez les réducteurs de la souffrance dans la nature" (Eliminate animals for their own good: walk among the reducers of suffering in nature) by Estiva Reus. The book critiques the wild-animal suffering movement.<ref>{{cite journal |title= Éliminer les animaux pour leur bien: promenade chez les réducteurs de la souffrance dans la nature |trans-title=Eliminate animals for their own good: walk among the reducers of suffering in nature |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |volume=41 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/numero/cahiers-antispecistes-n41-eliminer-les-animaux-pour-leur-bien/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716051444/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/numero/cahiers-antispecistes-n41-eliminer-les-animaux-pour-leur-bien/|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no|language=fr-FR|date=May 2018|first1=Estiva|last1=Reus}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|June 10}} || Presentation || EA Global 2018 takes place in San Francisco. Persis Eskander of WASR gives a talk about "Crucial Considerations in Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |title=Crucial Considerations in Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/249916 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl=https://archive.is/I7vSM |archivedate=2018-07-12 |date=June 9, 2018}}</ref> Ozy Brennan (WASR), Persis Eskander (WASR), Kieran Greig (ACE), and Abraham Rowe (Utility Farm) participate in a panel on "Strategic Movement Building for Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |title=Strategic Movement Building for Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/249944 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl= https://archive.is/yfXkV |archivedate=2018-06-10 |date=June 10, 2018}}</ref> There is also a meetup for people interested in the topic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meetup: Wild Animal Suffering |url= https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/250302 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl= https://archive.is/YuJSZ |archivedate=2018-06-10 |date=June 10, 2018}}</ref>

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|| 2018 || {{dts|June}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard allocates $70K to Animal Ethics, $40K to Utility Farm, and $30K to Wild-Animal Suffering Research via the EA Funds. He notes that all three organizations have converged around the strategy of building an academic field of wild-animal suffering, but have different approaches.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=June 2018: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nTS2AEOLkuQEmEQ5ePa7opt9eoN_utvWvXPbFGJL90s|website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=June 2018|archiveurl=https://archive.is/6YMLA|archivedate=2018-07-20|quote=Potential interventions to aid wild animals remain limited, and may be unwise, so I think it makes sense to build an academic field that can better research this problem and potential approaches to addressing it. The three primary groups in this space have all converged around the academic field-building strategy, though they have different approaches. Given the magnitude of the problem, my uncertainty over which approach is likely to be most effective, and my sense that all three groups are well-run, I’m proposing funding all three.|deadurl=no}}</ref>

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| 2018 || {{dts|December 30}} || Funding || The EA Animal Welfare Fund management team (Lewis Bollard, Natalie Cargill, Toni Adleberg, and Jamie Spurgeon) grants $20,000 from the EA Animal Welfare Fund to Utility Farm. Also, they grant $75,000 to Rethink Priorities, whose research agenda within animal welfare includes assessment of work on wild animal welfare.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds/animal-welfare/payouts/2uyvubn8KUCoqOQS6A4ayW|title = Payout Report: Animal Welfare Fund. December 2018 - Animal Welfare Fund Grants|quote = Researching tractable interventions to improve wild animal welfare. Within the animal advocacy movement, there seems to be an increasing interest in helping wild animals, but research on effective interventions is severely lacking. Utility Farm is a research organization that takes a practical approach, prioritizing the research of potentially tractable interventions. For example, they published a report on humane insecticides and they are currently research interventions to reduce the suffering of birds and small mammals caused by feral and free-ranging cats. We believe that research on wild animal welfare is both important and relatively neglected, so we are happy to support it where we can.|date = December 30, 2018|accessdate = March 29, 2019|publisher = Effective Altruism Funds}}</ref>

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| 2019 || {{dts|January 25}} || Project || Wild-Animal Suffering Research and Utility Farm merge to form the Wild Animal Initiative.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/blog/announcing-wai|title = Announcing WIld Animal Initiative|date = January 25, 2019|accessdate = March 29, 2019|notes = Cross-posted to https://was-research.org/blog/announcing-wild-animal-initiative/ on the Wild-Animal Suffering Research blog and to https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/jzikTHMSpckYg9ZPp/announcing-wild-animal-initiative on the Effective Altruism Forum. See also the associated discussion on Reddit at https://www.reddit.com/r/EffectiveAltruism/comments/ajr27e/announcing_wild_animal_initiative_wildanimal/}}</ref>

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| 2019 || {{dts|March 6}} || Funding || The EA Animal Welfare Fund management team (Lewis Bollard, Natalie Cargill, Toni Adleberg, and Jamie Spurgeon) grants $50,000 from the EA Animal Welfare Fund to Wild Animal Initiative. Also, they grant $80,000 to Rethink Priorities, whose research agenda includes research into wild animal welfare.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds/animal-welfare/payouts/7ysr1iPZTjf4fBAPfP3xuB|title = Payout Report: Animal Welfare Fund. March 2019 - Animal Welfare Fund Grants|date = March 6, 2019|accessdate = March 29, 2019|publisher = Effective Altruism Funds|quote = Research on tractable interventions to help wild animals. Two recipients of previous grants from the Animal Welfare Fund — Wild-Animal Suffering Research and Utility Farm — have recently merged to form a new group: Wild Animal Initiative. Under the direction of Abraham Rowe, Wild Animal Initiative will focus on research prioritization, academic outreach, and research on potential near-term interventions. Over the next year, they plan to expand their research and communications staff. They are also looking into funding early-career academics to do research that is aligned with their goals. We think that wild animal suffering is a relatively large-scale and neglected problem, so we are happy to support one of the few organizations currently working in that space.}}</ref>

|}

~~==Meta information on the timeline==~~

~~===How the timeline was built===~~

~~The initial version of the timeline was written by [[User:Louis]].~~

~~===What the timeline is still missing===~~

* Tomasik articles that I didn't bother to add so far

* New Nature Ethics articles

* New WASR articles

* ACE Research Funding

* Horta articles

* Other academic philosophy articles, perhaps, depending on relevance

* There should be stuff between Mill and Singer?

* Buddhists?

~~===Timeline update strategy===~~

==See also==

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