The NZZ am Sonntag of 7.7.24 published an article critical of shark attacks on humans. Of course they are bad. But they are out of all proportion to what we humans do to sharks. That’s why our readers’ letter group responded with the following letter to the editor. Although it is otherwise rarely printed in the NZZ am Sonntag, this time we made it into the print edition with the following text:
Of course it is tragic for the 50 or so people affected each year when they are attacked by sharks, even if the attacks usually happen “by accident” and most of them fortunately do not end fatally. But the shark “problem” is probably a prime example of our distorted perception in animal ethics. To be fair, human attacks on sharks should also be reported. These do not happen “by accident” but to satisfy the human palate! According to serious estimates, an incredible 120 million sharks are killed every year for their fins and meat or are thrown back into the sea severely injured after their fins have been cut off with no chance of survival. And like the humans who are attacked, the sharks also suffer because they are not soulless commodities either…