• breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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    17 days ago

    i’m not against veganism at all. i do not mean this in a negative way; it is a sincere question.

    given how humanity seems to want to wipe out animals it can’t farm, how many cows would exist if they were not consumed for various products?

    • Sunshine (she/her)@lemmy.caOPM
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      17 days ago

      Deforestation is largely caused by animal agriculture, if we stop that then there’s a lot more land available for the wildlife reducing the extinction risk greatly, as Denmark has recently committed to converting 15% of the farm land to forests.

      There would be a lot less bovines in the world as they’re not longer being artificially inseminated, they would move to sanctuaries where they can live fulfilling lives without the threat of an early death.

      • breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        I see thats an important point ive misunderstood until your comment - its not about, for example, having a huge number of cows. But a natural number, living full happy lives. As opposed to the artificial amount we breed for farming. thanks!

        • SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world
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          17 days ago

          The original wild cows, aurochs, were far different from the ones on farms today. Farm cows would likely die quickly and go extinct without human support. There is an attempt to “devolve” farm cattle to daylight the latent auroch genes left in some breeds of cattle, it is called “rewilding”. Of course the catch is also finding them wilderness habitats without things like highways cutting through them.

    • K4mpfie@feddit.org
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      17 days ago

      given how humanity seems to want to wipe out animals it can’t farm, how many cows would exist if they were not consumed for various products?

      Fine I’ll take the bait. This is a ridiculously bold claim which so carelessly oversimplifies…well everything that I need to ask, where did you hear this??

    • rbn@sopuli.xyz
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      17 days ago

      I guess it would probably be just a fraction compared to the current number of cows but I personally think it’s still a much better world with few animals living in the wild rather than masses in captivity.

      If some aliens came to us and and offered us to massively increase the human population by factor 10 or 100 but in return they’d hold us in cages, control our reproduction, decide on how old you’ll get, use our bodies as ressources for food and clothes etc.

      I guess very few humans would see such a development as a success for our species despite the tremendous growth of individuals.

      Quality > quantity