Conservation and Biodiversity
Do Animal Species Have a Right to Exist?
September 4, 2025
As humans, we have universally accepted rights that recognize the value of our existence, known as human rights, they are inherent to all people simply because we are human. These rights include the right to life, liberty, equality, freedom of expression, and protection from torture, among others. The foundational framework defining these is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted in 1948 by the United Nations. This document sets out 30 fundamental rights that are universal, inalienable (cannot be revoked), indivisible, and apply equally to every human being, regardless of race, gender, nationality, or other distinctions.
But if human beings have rights, why wouldn’t all other species too?
For thousands of years, we’ve upheld an anthropocentric worldview– placing human needs above that of all other species as well as the environment. This perspective is so ingrained in how we live that we rarely stop to question it.
But growing research into animal intelligence, emotional IQ, and social behavior, alongside growing extinction rates, raises an important question: If animals think, feel, love, mourn, play, and connect, just like we do, why do we still treat their existence as conditional or expendable?
It’s crucial we stand up for animals—both as individuals and as a society. As a member of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, I’m committed to ensuring our government is doing its part to promote animal welfare.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), co-chair of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus
Anthropocentrism, Biocentrism, and Ecocentrism
Answers to that question depend largely on the worldview we hold. Anthropocentrism, the most common worldview, considers humans as the most important species and views the environment merely as a resource meant to serve our needs and be plundered.
Biocentrism regards both humans and other living beings as equally important, recognizing the intrinsic value of all life forms. And ecocentrism holds that all elements of the natural world, living and nonliving, are of equal value.
These worldviews shape how we view the environment, our relationship with it, and the legal frameworks we build. In practice, legal systems prioritize human interest, meaning a court is unlikely to recognize a forest’s rights unless human harm is involved.
But animals complicate this model. We don’t recognize them as “things” but we also don’t see them as “persons.” As science continues to confirm animal sentience, the lines between “us” and “them” continue to blur.
You can always tell a lot about somebody by the way they put their hands on an animal.
Betty white, Actress and Animal Champion
The Inherent Value of Life
Growing research on animal psychology and social behavior reveals that animals experience feelings and emotions, reminding us of how similar they are to us.
Dolphins, for example, mourn the loss of others and perform funeral-like rituals where they protect and even carry the bodies of unresponsive individuals. These stress-induced responses and sympathetic acts reveal that dolphins recognize and react to the death of others.
Elephants are known for their exceptional memories. They migrate far distances in search of food, so rely on their spatial memory and previous social connections to reunite with their herd. Both their independence and social skills are reminiscent of human behavior.
And then there are wolves– social, loyal, and altruistic. They care for one another when injured and raise pups communally. Perhaps it is these innate characteristics that helped humans form such strong connections to the wolf’s close relative– the dog.
So, if animals can suffer, remember, connect, and care, shouldn’t their lives matter in their own right? Switching to a biocentric perspective would allow us to recognize that animals matter not just because they serve us, but because they exist. Their lives have meaning and hold a value separate from their relationships with humans. Although a biocentric perspective challenges our typical thinking, adopting this worldview may shift us towards a more inclusive and compassionate society.
Recognizing an animal’s intrinsic worth is one step, but ensuring that worth is protected is another. One emerging approach is to grant legal rights not only to species, but to entire ecosystems. This way of thinking may sound radical, but is already being adopted around the world.
Animal cruelty is one of the most unfortunate and barbaric demonstrations of human beings manipulating ill-conceived notions of ‘power’ over other species.
Ian Somerhalder, actor and animal advocate
Legal Recognition of Nature
The Rights of Nature movement asserts that elements of the environment can possess rights similar to those of humans or corporations. Since nature cannot speak for itself, people are granted the ability to act on nature’s behalf in court. This framework allows legal systems to consider the wellbeing of species, ecosystems, and even non-living elements like rivers or mountains.
In Ecuador, nature was granted constitutional rights in 2008. This marked a major shift, and was led by the advocacy of indigenous communities who have long embraced biocentrism. Since then, courts have used the law to suspend road construction and mining projects that violate nature’s rights.
Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.
Pope Francis
Nine years later, New Zealand passed the Te Awa Tupua Act, granting legal personhood to the Whanganui River. The act recognizes the river as ‘an indivisible and living whole’ and reflects the Māori tribe’s kinship with nature.
In 2018, the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa tribe recognized the rights of manoomin (wild rice), a species threatened by oil pipelines, climate change, and habitat loss.
The “Rights of Manoomin” law, along with the cases in Ecuador and New Zealand, show that change is possible, and laws can reflect a deeper appreciation for the environment.
Looking Forward To Being Kinder
As we face accelerating biodiversity loss and gain a deeper understanding of non-human intelligence and emotion, the question of whether species have a right to exist becomes increasingly important. Our current anthropocentric worldview has led to environmental destruction, mass extinction, and the moral oversight of countless other beings.
Recognizing the rights of animals and ecosystems challenges us to reconsider what we value and why. Legal frameworks like the Rights of Nature movement exemplify that this shift is possible and use law to honor the value of all life. Embracing biocentrism and ecocentrism is not about rejecting our humanity, but expanding upon who and what we give value to.
The right to life should not be a privilege reserved solely for humans, but a principle that guides how we live and coexist with the planet as a whole. So let’s open the conversation on the rights of animals and the role we play in forming a more inclusive, respective relationship with all living beings.
If you believe that we cannot ignore the suffering of other sentient animals. Right now, two captive orcas whales, Wikie and her son Keijo, are being housed in crumbling tanks in the South of France. Legendary Star Trek actor, William Shatner is campaigning for them and you can see his powerful message HERE. Please feel free to reshare and post it.
Please join him and EARTHDAY.ORG to get justice for Wikie and Keijo by putting pressure on the French government to act with urgency to save them. Write directly to President Emmanuel Macron, demanding he intervene immediately to ensure a humane, sustainable future for these animals and fulfill France’s commitment to animal welfare. These orcas are in limbo.
Make sure the world hears their story and acts, because Wikie and Keijo cannot wait indefinitely– their lives hang in the balance today. Like millions of other species across the planet, we have forgotten that they too have a right to a happy, safe life. You can see Wikie and her son, Keijo’s predicament HERE. Please act to help them.
I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop, and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment.
Joaquin Phoenix, Actor and Animal Activist
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