Māori Concepts in Animal Ethics: Implications for the Three Rs

Abstract

Our aim is to explore how Māori concepts can refresh thinking about animal ethics. As sources of data for this exploration, we draw on interviews with Māori expert informants, as well as information gathered from relevant literature. First, we overview the two main theoretical traditions of animal ethics, unifying and relational, followed by an account of the development and current status of the Three Rs (Replace, Reduce, and Refine) for animal ethics in practice. We then introduce central Māori ethical concepts and how they interconnect within the traditional Māori cosmos. Two more “Rs” fall out of the Māori concepts: Relate and Respect. Māori views of animals center on whakapapa, a unique Indigenous Māori concept, roughly equated to genealogy, which encapsulates in Māori terms how animals are related, both to humans and to primordial forces, thus commanding respect from humans–as kin, and as ethically significant beings in their own right. This Māori argument illuminates the logic of respect that underpins the Three Rs principles for reducing harm to animals in research, testing, and teaching.