Carnivore Minds

Animals we consider predators are dangerous and unpredictable, devoid of emotion, and capable only of acting on instinct. Or are they? In this pioneering book the founder of trans-species psychology refutes many misperceptions about the carnivores of the animal kingdom. Her studies reveal the great white shark’s capacity for tender maternal feelings, the rattlesnake’s ability to make friends, the orca’s moral code, and much more.

G. A. Bradshaw, renowned for leading research on trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in elephants and other species, examines the minds and emotional lives of carnivores through the lenses of natural history, neuroscience, psychology, and animal behavior. She finds that animals who are often characterized as “cold-blooded killers” share the rainbow of emotions that humans experience, including psychological trauma due to violence. Bradshaw decries the irrational thinking behind wildlife policies that equate killing carnivores with “conservation,” and she proposes a new, ethical approach to coexistence with the planet’s fiercest animals.