ethics case study

Case Studies III: Invasive Species

1- Northern Snakehead Fish

a) Central Points? b) Your thoughts on the situation? c) What’s the right thing to do? d) What is the basis (the operative theory) for your argument?

Air breathing and land crawling Consider Some Public Policy Issues? Consider Some Ethical Issues? There are laws in place against the release of exotic species – how severe should the punishment be?

What about those that keep them as pets? For food? Is that ethical? Why? Why not? Okay to eradicate the NSH in the US? - If so, why? Okay to kill all the fish in a particular pond to kill the NSH? Complete Pond Eradication http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPHzH--b_Vg If so, why? Citizen Scientists – and eradicators – information sheet from the DEC http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/nsnakeheadfs.pdf 2-Australian Cats (Your cat could be next?)

a) Central Points? b) Your thoughts on the situation? c) What’s the right thing to do? d) What is the basis (the operative theory) for your argument?

Why do they want to kill all the cats?

1024 × 1024 - hiveminer.com

Does the fact that it is a cat – a domesticated pet - change things?

How long does a species need to be there before it is “native”?

Ecosystems at risk – not just individual members or even a species. Should that matter?

Update 2017 http://www.smh.com.au/national/war-on-feral-cats-australia-aims-to-cull-2-million-20170214- gucp4o.html FEBRUARY 19 2017 War on feral cats: Australia aims to cull 2 million

•

The Unintended Consequences of Changing Nature’s Balance

NY Times Feb 16, 2009

“In 1985, Australian scientists kicked off an ambitious plan: to kill off non-native cats that had been prowling the island’s slopes since the early 19th century. The program began out of apparent necessity — the cats were preying on native burrowing birds. Twenty-four years later, a team of scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division and the University of Tasmania reports that the cat removal unexpectedly wreaked havoc on the island ecosystem.

With the cats gone, the island’s rabbits (also non-native) began to breed out of control, ravaging native plants and sending ripple effects throughout the ecosystem. The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Ecology online in January.

“Our findings show that it’s important for scientists to study the whole ecosystem before doing eradication programs,” said Arko Lucieer, a University of Tasmania remote-sensing expert and a co- author of the paper. “There haven’t been a lot of programs that take the entire system into account. You need to go into scenario mode: ‘If we kill this animal, what other consequences are there going to be?’ ” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/science/17isla.html?ref=science

Virus to make sterile or kill all feral cats? Ethical or not? Based on?

What would Kant say? What would Mill Say? Would an Ecofeminist Say?

How can you apply Kant, Mill and Warren’s systems to these cases? (This could be on the final exam)