Mapping the Ethics Landscape for the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) in Conservation

This paper aims to identify the values and ethical issues at stake when assisted reproductive technologies ( ART s) are used in animals for conservation purposes. We outline key concerns about individual animal welfare and lives, and the central conservation values that underpin and justify the use of ART s for conservation purposes. We then discuss three questions that might help to guide ethical development and use of ART s in a conservation context: Is the goal of the project involving ART s for conservation well justified? Can the goal of the project be accomplished responsibly using ART s? Is the project, and the use of ART s in it, overall desirable? Decisions to use ART s for conservation are ethically complex and not amenable to blanket ethical approval or disapproval; they will, instead, require detailed empirically and normatively grounded evaluation on a case-by-case basis, which can be guided by these questions.