Ethical questions for custodians of the natural world.

I don't think that animals in general have a right to life — not even whales. I don't think, for instance, that we have a duty to stop orcas (one type of whale) from killing other whales as we would protect humans from being killed. I don't think we have a duty to stop chimps from killing other chimps.

But it is important to prevent the loss of species and ecosystems, because that is an irrecoverable loss.