Beyond Tooth and Claw: Discovering Cooperation and Joy in the Wild

Bestselling author and PhD of ethology Jonathan Balcombe argues for a new perspective on nature—one that rejects the idea of the wild as cruel and savage and instead highlights the cooperation and compassion between species—and examines the role humans play in it.

Turn on a nature documentary, and you’re likely to see the wild at its most brutal: terrified wildebeests crossing crocodile-infested rivers, or sharks snapping at chum in bloody frenzies. Since Charles Darwin coined the term “survival of the fittest,” the view of nature as a harsh, unfeeling, and competitive landscape has dominated scientific thinking and popular culture.

Yet studies are emerging that refute this cynical perspective. In his new book, bestselling author and PhD of ethology Jonathan Balcombe argues it is not competition but cooperation that allows nature to thrive and animals to have an overall positive, at times even joyful, existence. He gathers evidence of acts of kindness, consideration, and generosity among wild creatures. Some take place within the same species, like ants, for example, who carry their wounded back to the colony and nurse them back to health. Others occur between different species, as when a genet—a small, catlike carnivore—catches a ride on the back of a rhino, or a tarantula shares her burrow with a tiny toad.

Alongside its inevitable struggles, life presents rewards, and Balcombe foregrounds facets of creatures’ lives that foster pleasure, including play, touch, romance, and esthetic beauty. He also examines how humans fit into the equation. Amidst massive anthropogenic suffering, humans are capable of unrivaled goodness, as demonstrated by the countless wildlife rehabilitation centers, sanctuaries, and pollinator gardens cropping up around the world.

Combining accessible scientific research and compelling personal narrative, Balcombe presents a new view of nature—one that inspires compassion and respect for all life.