Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation

Alexandra Palmer is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Geography at the University of Oxford, with a background in social anthropology and primatology. Her work centres around ethical dimensions of human relationships with other animals, especially non-human primates. Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation is based on her doctoral work at University College London. Her other research has looked at zookeeper–orangutan relationships and ethics and regulation in non-laboratory animal research (including with wildlife).

• AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsIntroduction: To Save is to SacrificeApproachMethodologyWhat Are Ethics?Conservation, Welfare, LiberationTriage and Trade-OffsRoadmapChapter 1: Orangutans and their ConservationOrangutans: A Natural and Cultural HistoryConservation: The Old, the New, and the UglyPancasila and Palm Oil: Conservation in IndonesiaOrangutans as Tourism Mascots: Conservation in Malaysian Borneo"Please Don’t Set Up Any More!" The NGO NetworkOrangutans in the AnthropoceneChapter 2: Kill, Incarcerate, or Liberate? Alternatives to ReintroductionOrangutan Reintroduction: Conservation Tool or Cry in the Wilderness?Replenishing Wild Populations: A Post-Hoc Argument?Forest Restoration and Protection: Reintroduction as Political Incentive for ConservationLaw Enforcement: Is Trade a Cause of Consequence of Orangutan Endangerment? Ignoring Displaced Wildlife "Breaks the Hearts of People": Educational Benefits of R&RFreedom isn’t Free: The Cost-(In)effectiveness of R&RKillingWhat Counts as Euthanasia? Personhood and Penance: Orangutan Rights and Human Responsibilities Sentience and Speciesism: The Ethics of Killing Orangutans Versus Other SpeciesIncarcerationSurplus and Scarcity: The Practical Problem of Housing Orphaned OrangutansWhere is "Home"? Orangutans and NationalityLife of Luxury or Prison? The Welfare Implications of Captivity Versus the WildIntegrity, Islam, and Independence: Wildness as Inherently ValuableWeighing Wildness and WelfareChapter 3: What is a Rehabilitation Centre? Boundary-Work in ConservationWhat’s in a Name? The Preference for "Rehabilitation Centre" Over "Sanctuary"To Breed or Not to Breed? Distinguishing Rehabilitation Centres from ZoosDehuminization and Dualisms: Defining WildnessSustainability and Sacrifice: The Ethics of Wildlife TourismA Tenuous Boundary?A Counter Example: Rehabilitation Centre or Release Site?Chapter 4: Sense and Sentimentality: Emotion in Environmental EthicsEyes and PIEs: The Development of Ethical StancesFeelings and Facts: The Relationship Between Emotion and RationalitySelfishness and Sacrifice: Two Specific Worries About Emotion in Orangutan ConservationTriage and Trouble: More Thought, Not Less EmotionChapter 5: No Space on the Ark: Triage in Wildlife RescueSelecting Citizens: Sacrifice and Speciesism in Admission PracticesCreating Two Problems, or Solving One? The Dilemma of Translocation The Sliding ScaleChapter 6: Wild, Well, or Free? Ethical Debates in Rehabilitation MethodsMotherly or Tough Love? Negotiating Human-Orangutan Boundaries in RehabilitationPersevering Purity or Process? Mixing Taxa at Release SitesDefining Unreleasability: Training, Trauma, and TriageWild Abandon(ment): The Challenges of Post-Release MonitoringThe "Grey Zone": Healthcare and the Transition to WildnessFree or Enslaved? Post-Release Feeding and the Question of Free WillWho is the Expert?Chapter 7: Bosses, Baddies, and "Baby Huggers": The Ethics of Conservation FundraisingOversight and Ownership: Relationships with Foundations and Donor-NGOsPalm Oil and Other Dirty MoneyPlaying to the "Baby Huggers": Cuteness and CommodificationExpertise and Ethics: Two Worries About Fundraising Chapter 8: The "Dark Side": (Un)ethics and Whistleblowing in ConservationMy Orangutan, Your Orangutan: Narratives of Collaboration and ConflictPublic or Private Secrets? The Ethics of WhistleblowingShould Outsiders Speak Out?Conclusion: Ethics in the AnthropoceneReferencesInterviewsIndex

"Masterfully weaving together rich ethnographic fieldwork with poignant scholarly analysis, Ethical Questions in Orangutan Conservation is a must-read for scholars and practitioners who are willing to stay with the trouble and to consider the real-life dilemmas of saving while sacrificing nonhuman animals in the Anthropocene."- Irus Braverman, author of Coral Whisperers: Scientists on the Brink"Via a thoroughly anthropological lens Palmer takes us through the biopolitics of orangutan conservation and much, much more. Her theme of triage and her deft interweaving of multiple intellectual and methodological threads produces an engaging, highly complex, and totally fascinating view into core dilemmas of the Anthropocene."- Agustín Fuentes, The Edmund P. Joyce C.S.C. Professor of Anthropology, Chair of the Department of Anthropology