Animals can't do anything wrong.

That's what most of us believe.

If a non-human animal causes damage or harm to someone else,

most of us believe that this harm, while it can be bad, cannot be fairly described as immoral.

If an animal steals from another animal, they aren't moralized as a thief.

If an animal kills another animal, there are very few people who would call that animal a murderer.

And this isn't because the victim involved isn't a human.

It's because the perpetrator isn't.

If I were to steal a toy from my dog, or if I kicked a raccoon, most people would say that I was acting unethically.

And conversely, if a bear were to attack and kill a human, the bear would be viewed as amorally as if they'd attacked a deer.

Right? That's just a bear being a bear. We don't judge animals that harm animals purely because the perpetrator in question, the agent, is not viewed as a moral agent.

But how far can we push that?

How would we feel about an animal that violated all of our most important ethical norms.

How would we feel about an animal who crossed the deepest lines that modern humans draw in the sand?

Today, we're going to push it as far as possible.

Today we're going to talk about a cannibalistic animal who kidnaps, imprisons, and tortures other creatures.

Today, we're going to talk about one of the cruelest predators on Earth.

Eleonora's Falcon.

Falco Eleonori.

I'm Mackin.

This is species.

Welcome to the show.

...