The Wild in Fire
Human Aid to Wildlife in the Disasters of the Anthropocene
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8083642 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A Mccumber (0000-0002-0048-8048, University of California, Santa Barbara Sociology Department), Zachary King |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 47-66 |
| Publication date | 2019-07-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Values (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0963-2719 • E-ISSN: 1752-7015 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.3197/096327119x15579936382671 |
| OpenAlex | W2963590733 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 26 |
Should you help a wild rabbit fleeing a wall of flame? What is our responsibility to wildlife affected by wildfire? This paper focuses on two cases of ad hoc public aid to wildlife that occurred during California's 2017 ‘Thomas Fire’ and were subsequently popularised online. We take the discourse surrounding these cases – specifically, a viral video of a man removing a wild rabbit from the fire's flames and the widespread call to leave out buckets of water for displaced animals – as an invitation to engage in broader ethical and theoretical discussion about our individual relationships to wild animals during the age of ecological crisis termed the Anthropocene. Through this case analysis, we identify emerging tensions between what we call ‘interventionist’ and ‘anti-interventionist’ positions and assert that, while anti-interventionist positions are generally framed in rational, empirical or technocratic terms, a full consideration of already-existing human entanglements with the natural world troubles this frame. We conclude that the Anthropocene presents unique circumstances that give substantial support to the interventionist position; at the same time, we continue to uphold the value of key critiques present in the anti-interventionist argument, which might yet help to shape the most effective form of human aid to wild animals and alleviate problems of ecological sustainability, more broadly
Anthropocene · Argument (complex analysis · Biology · Environmental ethics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sustainability · Technocracy · Value (mathematics · Wildlife · Wildness · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Ecology · Law · Philosophy
Mad about Wildlife
Morel Tales
Wildlife in the Anthropocene
Mosquito Trails
Swamplife
The Global Pigeon
Defining the Anthropocene
Dominance and Affection
Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor
Naturework and the Taming of the Wild
Entangled Edens
The Environmental Goffman
Four Problems, Four Directions for Environmental Humanities
On the Poverty of Our Nomenclature
The Mushroom at the End of the World
Molds and Totems
People are Animals
If Lions Could Speak
Bird in hand
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,83 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |