Human activities over the past two centuries have profoundly transformed the planet, significantly diminishing the quantity and quality of habitats available to nonhuman animals in the wild. Until recently, philosophical discussions of land rights have been largely anthropocentric, with little consideration given to the territorial interests of wild animals. However, in the recent years, some philosophers have begun to develop theories that justify wild animals’ rights to original territorial ownership or to repatriated territory. In this essay, I critically evaluate these approaches while gleaning some key elements that are subsumed under a nuanced interest-based rights theory for territorial rights for wild animals. I argue that three core elements of the liberal concept of ownership can be extended cogently from grounding human property rights to justifying human obligations to recognise, restore, and protect territories for wild animals.
Julius Kapembwa is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Applied Ethics at the University of Zambia. His research focuses on animal ethics and sexual ethics, with broader interests in social justice, and postcolonial justice. Julius earned his PhD, Commonwealth Scholar, from the University of Reading (UK) in 2017, where he developed a theory of animal rights and examined its ethical implications, especially in the Global South context. Julius has published in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, delivered invited talks in animal ethics at universities in Spain, and serves as a Senior Fellow at Pompeu Fabra University’s Centre for Animal Ethics. He is also actively involved in animal welfare advocacy in Zambia and currently serves as Secretary of the Lusaka Animal Welfare Society, the country’s oldest and leading animal-welfare organisation.