We curate a small collection of iconic photographs of animals, each one with an important lesson for all of us. From the first dog in orbit to the monkey who with a little help from PETA sued a human photographer and won.

Pikin and Appolinaire

Canadian photographer Jo-Anne McArthur is something of a legend within the animal campaigning community thanks to her incredible work capturing countless iconic images that tell the stories of animals across the world, particularly those of exploitation at the hands of humans. As animal rights campaigners we owe much to her photojournalism organisation, We Animals Media, and the archive of images they maintain.

In 2017, McArthur won the People’s Choice Award at the Natural History Museum’s renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for this image of Pikin the lowland gorilla and her caregiver Appolinaire Ndohoudou.

Pikin was rescued by Ape Action Africa before she was to be sold for bushmeat, but in this picture was being moved from her old enclosure to a new, larger one together with her gorilla friends. Appolinaire kept Pikin calm when she woke from her sedation en route to her new home.

McArthur’s ‘Wall of Shame’ was also displayed at the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition where it was highly commended. Do visit the NHM website to learn more about it.

Laika the space dog

On November the 3rd 1957, a stray dog named Laika made history by becoming the first living being to orbit the Earth. Sadly, as many of you reading this no doubt know, Laika was never meant to return safely and died in space not long after launch. 

A number of other animals followed including more dogs and primates, sent up to space by both the USSR and the USA, all part of the space race of the 1960s and precursors to the moon landing and other important manned space flights.

You might ask what lesson this could possibly teach us about our exploitation of animals. According to an excellent article from Smithsonian Magazine, the guilt felt by those who sent Laika to space knowing she would not return has only grown in the years since. Russian medical doctor and space dog trainer Oleg Gazenko said more than 30 years later: “The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it.” Further:

While concerns about animal rights had not reached early 21st century levels, some protested the deliberate decision to let Laika die because the Soviet Union lacked the technology to return her safely to Earth. In Great Britain, where opposition to hunting was growing, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the British Society for Happy Dogs opposed the launch. A pack of dog lovers attached protest signs to their pets and marched outside the United Nations in New York.

So while animal rights campaigning may not have been quite as developed as it is now, Laika’s story inspired protests that we would recognise today. Also, in 2015, Russia unveiled a new memorial statue of Laika atop a rocket at a Moscow military research facility; and in 2005, NASA unofficially named a spot within a Martian crater “Laika.”

Naruto the monkey photographer wins damages following a two-year legal battle

In 2011, this selfie taken by Naruto the macaque monkey in Sulawesi, Indonesia, went viral across the internet, resulting in reportedly modest earnings for human photographer David Slater.

When Slater asked the Techdirt blog and Wikipedia to stop using the image without his permission, both refused and said Naruto was the owner of the copyright. While the US Copyright Office ruled in 2015 that animals couldn’t own copyrights, PETA jumped in and sued Slater.

After two years of legal action, Slater settled and pledged to give 25 per cent of his future earnings from the picture towards the care of macaque monkeys in Indonesia like Naruto.

Somewhat of a funny and slightly absurd story, but there are some important points. Firstly, Wikipedia acknowledging that a non-human can be a copyright owner, although they may just have been saying that to stop the picture being taken down; secondly, a decent ‘win’ for PETA for the press alone; and thirdly, this joint statement from both PETA and Slater:

PETA and David Slater agree that this case raises important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal rights for non-human animals, a goal that they both support, and they will continue their respective work to achieve this goal.

"Benjamin" the last Tasmanian tiger

Despite only being declared extinct officially in the 1980s, thylacines AKA Tasmanian tigers (or wolves) were thought to have died out in the 1930s albeit with unsubstantiated reports of sightings throughout Australia.

Pictures of now-extinct animals, particularly those whose populations dwindled to non-existence as a result of human activity, are a reminder of the impact we as a species have on so many others. According to the National Museum of Australia:

It is estimated there were around 5000 thylacines in Tasmania at the time of European settlement. However, excessive hunting, combined with factors such as habitat destruction and introduced disease, led to the rapid extinction of the species.

The last shooting of a wild thylacine took place in 1930, while Benjamin pictured here - the last known thylacine - died of exposure in 1936 at the Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, just two months after the species was granted ‘protected’ status.

Blackfish and Tilikum

Blackfish has gone down as one of the most important documentaries concerning our treatment of animals to come out in recent years, destroying the public image of Seaworld and ending its orca breeding programme. However, despite pledging to phase out live orca performances, reportedly they still continue.

The acclaimed documentary centred on the story of Tilikum, now sadly no longer with us, and how the tragic deaths of a number of trainers were directly related to psychological problems linked to his captivity by the operators of SeaWorld. As a result, the public has a greater awareness of, and disdain for, captive animal shows.

The orca in this photograph is instantly recognisable as Tilikum with his collapsed dorsal fin. However, according to CBS, all captive male orcas in the US have a full or partially collapsed dorsal fin, yet they are extremely rare in the wild. They are thought to be the result of serious injury or contamination.

Andrew Gough is Media & Investigations Manager for Surge.

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