"Animals considered to be highly intelligent, such as certain marine mammals and great apes, are banned from being hunted or used in research in certain jurisdictions. The prohibitions on using these animals are widely supported by the public. This is despite the fact that many of these species either exist in large numbers in captive breeding programs or have stable or growing populations in their natural habitats. Is it reasonable to advocate different approaches to animal use and welfare based on a human perception of intelligence?"
I think it is. As much as it is difficult to draw a line where we say "at this level of intelligence it's morally defensible to perform research on an animal and at this level it is not", I think in some ways we must. In a perfect world, I would support the idea that every living thing has value, and it is not up to humans to decide a rank of importance. However, I think that in reality, when we are faced with terminal and ravaging disease, it is permissible to consider the use of animals for research. This conclusion leads to very difficult questions. Which species are acceptable to use and which are not?
There are many factors to consider when answering this question. Intelligence is one, but self-awareness, ability to experience pain, genetic similarity and conservation status are some of the others. The question is asking about intelligence so I will try to focus on that, although I do not believe the factors are mutually exclusive.
Intelligence is "the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills" (Wikipedia). So if we distill the statement down, are we arguing, "if a species is more able to learn and think at a high level, they are more valuable and therefore cannot be used for research?" I think this argument is flawed because if you extrapolate to people with lower and higher IQ's, as a society, I think we would say that everyone has equal value regardless of their intelligence. Instead maybe the argument is "if a species is more able to learn and think at a high level, they may be more capable of understanding, and therefore feeling in an emotional and physical sense, what they are being put through". To me, this statement makes more sense. I automatically link intelligence with self-awareness and emotional capability. I would have to research if this is scientifically accurate, but for now, this is how I justify using certain species above others. It is not perfect reasoning, but it is not a perfect world.
