Some ethical issues raised by studies of predation and aggression

This paper discusses some of the ethical issues raised by studies of predator-prey and aggressive interactions when these involve artificially-staged encounters. Such experiments call for special care in ensuring that a maximum of information is gained and a minimum of suffering caused. On the one hand, we should consider critically the theoretical importance of the question at issue, make sure that the behaviour is recorded accurately and explore the possibility of collaborative experiments. On the other hand, field studies of natural encounters should be used wherever possible. Where staged encounters are necessary, the use of model predators should be considered, the number of subjects kept to a minimum and the experiments made as short as possible.