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AbstractTracking technology has been heralded as transformative for animal ecology. In this paper I examine what changes are taking place, showing how current animal movement research is a field ripe for philosophical investigation. I focus first on how the devices alter the limitations and biases of traditional field observation, making observation of animal movement and behaviour possible in more detail, for more varied species, and under a broader variety of conditions, as well as restricting the influence of human presence and observer bias. I reconstruct these as shifts in scope, objectivity, accuracy and fruitfulness. The second transformation is slightly less obvious but equally significant for animal ecology. Tracking devices generate complex data that demands both statistical and biological expertise, which has led to increasingly frequent and intensive collaborations between statisticians and biologists. Based on interviews, I examine how researchers in these interdisciplinary collaborations negotiate the collection, analysis and interpretation of movement data, integrating research interests, methodological constraints, previous field observations, and background theory. Tracking technology is therefore also shifting which disciplinary considerations are brought to bear on research into animal movement and behaviour and how this research is conducted.

AbstractThere is growing concern globally about the inhumane treatment of 'pest' animals, including rodents, and about the ecological consequences of rodenticides, notably the poisoning of non-target wildlife like raptors and scavengers. Recent contestation between Environmental Health (EH) officials in Khayelitsha, Cape Town's largest African township, and the National Council for Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) illustrates the tension that can arise between innovative ecologically-focused strategies and existing legislation and animal protection practices. In 2013/14 EH officials introduced a job-creation project to trap and drown rats, describing it as 'humane' because it avoided poison thereby posing no danger to wildlife such as owls. The NSPCA, however, halted the project, arguing that drowning was both inhumane and illegal. Death by poison is also inhumane but the South Africa's Animals Protection Act (1962) allows it (and trapping and hunting) to be used against 'pests'/'vermin'. The NSPCA, which has never challenged the Act for allowing the inhumane treatment of these animals, used it to trump local preferences. A representative survey from Khayelitsha showed that there was some support for an NSPCA-like position (14% thought that drowning was cruel and that workers should not be allowed to trap and drown rats) but that the majority (70%) indicated that they were both concerned about the poisoning of non-target animals and supported the continuation of the trapping and drowning project. This was not a contestation over whether animals should be protected, but over how to do this, and which animals to include.

Contemporary theories that have attempted to overcome the traditional separation of human, animal, & machine are examined. Rather than try to clearly demarcate the boundaries between the three categories, it is contended that such thinking understands the boundaries between human, animal, & machine as less definitive & increasingly blurred. The role that theories of artificial intelligence & animal liberation movements have played in this move to reconfigure this conventional distinction between animal, human, & machine is discussed. Specific attention is dedicated to addressing the line of thought promulgated by animal liberation advocates who believe that the inhabitation of a common cultural environment by multiple species is desirable & justifiable. The attempt to blur the boundaries between living organism & machine through technology, eg, virtual reality, is critiqued; specifically, it is claimed that the notion of the machine fails to expand current understandings of self-hood. It is concluded that individuals who attempt to "play God" by utilizing technology are simply repeating the efforts of previous generations of technocrats & patriarchs. J. W. Parker

Argues for a revised theory of urban ecology that would take into account the distribution & interaction of plant & animal populations. It is asserted that traditional theory of urban ecology is concerned with the inhospitability of cities & improvements in landscape & ambience, based on a superficial understanding of nature. Urban society does not adapt to nature, but destroys it, creating a need for an urban ecology in which humans learn to develop a greater respect for nature. It is concluded that urban ecology theory is obligated to make apparent the inherent contradictions between humans & nature, since the city itself destroys nature, & artificial landscaping is insufficient to mitigate that contradiction. M. Wagner

While more than ever we are discussing animal rights and considering the possibility to extend the circle of our moral consideration, we are also more than ever inflicting suffering on more animals than in any time in history. This is especially the case for farm animals. This article aims to demonstrate that introducing animal-based measures into the legal system can be a practical and realistic step towards changing the familiar perspective of farm animals as mere commodities into the sentient beings they are. Currently, legislation on farm animals builds on what are called resource-based measures. These measures are not based on the animals but on their environment and the conditions in which the animals are living. They are very compatible with the legal system being relatively easy to assess, less subjective and highly repeatable. However, compliance with resource-based measures does not always mean good animal welfare, since these measures are generally considered to be less well correlated to the experiences of the animal. Animal-based measures, on the other hand, measure the state of the animal based on the actual animal, its behaviour (e.g. repetitive behaviour, human-animal relationship) and/or appearance (posture, facial expression, body condition). A change where laws on animals actually require looking at the animals has the potential to improve the relationship to the animals and is an essential shift towards farm animals being regarded as someone and not something. By acknowledging animals as whole sentient beings, we do not just see a complex system of "behaviours" (e.g. walking), but first and foremost we see a "behaver", a dynamic living being, whose movements are always meaningful and psychological expressive.