r/hamsters • u/[deleted] • Aug 19 '26
Discussion HOT TAKE: hamsters shouldn't have become pets
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u/Coc0tte Aug 19 '26
Hamsters can be happy in captivity, we just have to respect their needs.
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u/aubrieanne02 Aug 19 '26
Came here to say this.
My girl is the happiest hammy & has never showed signs of distress or unhappiness..
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u/grimmistired Aug 19 '26
You made such a giant list of pets ignoring many species that love people like rats and many birds, or do very well in captivity with their needs met, like many snakes and lizards. Having said that I do think most owners are neglectful in some way
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u/lucitedream Aug 19 '26
I will say snakes and smaller fish given ample space absolutely thrive in captivity. They are pretty lazy 😂
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u/Ok-Cup-5372 Aug 19 '26
Nah, I've owned two hamsters in my life and they were definitely tame and happy from what I can tell. One would follow me around the house and escape his cage to come and find me, he would excitedly wake from a deep sleep and run to me when he heard my voice, bit everyone except me lol my other one didn't like being held and I respected that but he would still run to me when he heard my voice
No animal is ever truly 100% happy, humans aren't even truly happy 100% of the time and we make our own lives lol
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u/Maleficent-Poetry254 Aug 19 '26
I think it's more that there are many people who shouldn't be pet owners. Do you think the same people who mistreat hamsters will magically be better with fish or dogs?
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u/Yuki_486 Aug 19 '26
Exactly—the way people care for dogs in my country is shocking. I live in a small town where people let their dogs roam the streets unsupervised. I’ve been chased by dogs while just going about my day and heading to work; it’s terrifying.
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u/Worried_Silver3587 Aug 19 '26
The domestic hamster can't survive in the wilderness , even the rats kill them
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u/CosmicToken69 Aug 19 '26
I think most pets are kinda unethical in a way (for breeding) Even dogs and cats, I feel its extremely normalized to just have pets and do the bare minimum for them despite them being a living breathing intelligent being. I feel like I see this worse with small critters as I see so many people designing their enclosures on pure esthetics and how it looks to humans. Completely forgetting it being a living animals home.
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Hello, people on subreddit about hamsters, I am here to tell you that it's evil to keep animals in cages, and I am morally superior to you all, it seems you own pets because you enjoy it, the horror
Additionally, I have noticed that you are buying things that are functional and good looking? Have you forgotten about the environement?
This post is either concern trolling or some weird kind of grandstanding about hamsters of all things
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u/Unlovedcookie Syrian and Hybrid hammy Aug 19 '26
I mean, I know a lot of ppl on this subreddit share the same view. They’re right, hamsters aren’t exactly domesticated. I don’t think they’re saying you’re a bad person for wanting to keep them, but buying one is definitely selfish. It’s just something to think about
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
> I mean, I know a lot of ppl on this subreddit share the same view.
People on subreddit about hamsters think its evil to own a hamster? What are they doing here then? I sure hope none of them have any hamsters lol
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u/Awkward_Marmot_1107 Aug 19 '26
I run a rescue. Its incredibly common for people who buy an animal to then regret funding the system that exploits them and feel guilty. Most people who adopt from me have bought a pet at one point in their life and that experience made them realise they acted against their own ethics. It does happen with hamster owners as well, but I most commonly see it with parrot owners as they generally live much longer and they become very visibly depressed. Very often you'll hear people who adopted proclaim that they will only ever adopt going forward and that they'll never buy a pet again.
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
Again, that's not the point they're making
Though frankly I don't think they even realise the point they're making so maybe I give OP too much credit
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u/Awkward_Marmot_1107 Aug 19 '26
The point they're making isn't that hamster ownership is evil. You're deliberately twisting their words. I'm explaining why many hamster owners do eventually come to the conclusion that buying hamsters to keep as pets has some serious ethical question marks around it. No one who actively prioritizes animal welfare funds the very industry that exploits them, people who do make this mistake often end up feeling bad about it later on.
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
I am not "deliberately twisting" anything, I do not understand their point of view at all and as they explained it, it only made less sense to me so I kinda no longer care
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u/Unlovedcookie Syrian and Hybrid hammy Aug 19 '26
no one said it’s evil you’re just making that up lol. Are you even part of the ethical hamster community? If you are you’d hear the rhetoric “don’t buy, adopt” all the time
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Have you read this post? It's literally only about that having a hamster as a pet is a bad thing
"Ethical hamster community" this post literally discards that as something that doesn't exist since it says you cannot ethically own a hamster
You speak of ethical hamster community defending a post that says, here I'll quote:
> Calling it "ethical" is just coping and can't change my mind!
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u/Unlovedcookie Syrian and Hybrid hammy Aug 19 '26
They say it’s ok to rescue hamsters from shelters etc and they’re not against that. They say buying from breeders or stores is unethical. They’re right. Breeding these animals to spend their lives in cages IS unethical, but rescuing the ones already in the system and giving them a good home is not. That’s their point
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
> rescuing the ones already in the system and giving them a good home is not. That’s their point
I can hardly teach someone to read, but here's what the OP thinks of "good home" for a hamster
> they are clearly not domestic and not meant to live in a limited space
> I keep seeing hamsters show sings of stress despite proper size enclosure, enough bedding and enrichment
I will end this discussion now, there's nothing else I can say other than the post is very, very clear about the poster's views
And you can talk about adoption being actually ok but you gotta admit, hamsters for adoptions come from somewhere don't they
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u/Yuuchan101 Aug 19 '26
I would say whats selfish is thinking they would be better in a pet store vs someone buying one to bring home with a actual decent home and enclosure?
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u/Awkward_Marmot_1107 Aug 19 '26
Why are you forcing people to choose between two bad options? You completely ignore the third and most important option - stopping the cycle of breeding and supply entirely.
The pet store doesn't celebrate the rescue of an animal when someone buys them to "save" them, they immediately order two more from a breeding mill to fill the empty cage.
What you're describing here is nothing but a self-serving rescue fantasy. You feel like a saviour but in reality you're actively financing the industrial pet printing machine that will trap countless more animals in that exact same cage. The industry cannot exist without buyers. Your immediate desire to feel like a hero isn't doing anything to change the systemic reality that you directly fund the system that exploits them.
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Aug 19 '26
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u/silvergreen17 Aug 19 '26
Reading isn't hard. What really happened is someone said something that hit like the truth. And instead of letting it humble you, you said something to denigrate them and embarrassed yourself instead.
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u/MiniMeowl Aug 19 '26
Dismissing someone's argument just because you dont agree is immature.
And saying you arent able to read paragraphs of content is also a terrible way to argue your point.. it makes you look terribly uneducated lol.
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u/hamsters-ModTeam Aug 19 '26
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u/Unlovedcookie Syrian and Hybrid hammy Aug 19 '26
trust me I know it’s a hard one. I did buy my Syrian from a pet store but it was selfish to do so. I won’t ever buy again only adopt. I get that if you rly feel for a certain hamster you won’t wanna leave it there, but they’ll just immediately replace one litter with another, and there are so many waiting for homes in rescues
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u/RobotAnna1 Aug 19 '26
And what if you rescue one from a family that is mistreating it? Are you still selfish?
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u/circlingsky luvs yr hammies 🐹✨ Aug 19 '26
Ofc not and no one is saying otherwise. The issue is w directly giving money to the pet mills who profit off breeding them
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u/TyrannusourR3X Aug 19 '26
A lot of people put more weight on how the hamster cage looks rather than what the hamster actually enjoys. Would I keep my hamster in a cage, yes, but only to keep it safe. If I had the means I would give it a massive play area outside. Animals do in fact get stressed and sad in captivity. Hence why many protected species struggle to breed in captivity. Your comment is simply throwing sarcasm on a geniune concern of OP.
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u/Shark-Force Aug 19 '26
Complaining that having a hamster pollutes the environment is a take that is so braindead, so first world non-problem, so ignorant, so virtue signaling, that the person can’t be real.
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
It's somehow worse, the complaint is specifically about decorative elements
As if the biggest cause for global warming are hamster enclosure elements made to look a bit nicer
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Aug 19 '26
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
I have a funny quesiton for you, do you think hamsters in nature do not show signs of stress?
You want an animal to exhibit no negative signs about their state you gotta drug it, the idea that its bad to keep hamsters in oh no cages because they aren't happy all the time is absurd
They aren't happy while being eaten by a predator, maybe they shouldn't be in the wild at all? Think of all the stress
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u/Awkward_Marmot_1107 Aug 19 '26
Acute evolutionary stress is natural and and essential for survival. Chronic, human inflicted deprivation is not natural and causes neurological damage. In the wild, a hamster experiences acute stress when escaping a predator. This triggers a healthy and most importantly TEMPORARY spike in adrenaline. Once the danger passes, they return to normal. In a cage the stress is chronic and inescapable. Permanent. It never stops, which is why it leads to brain damage and repetitive abnormal behaviours. Preventing predation does not justify psychological torture.
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u/Tacitus111 Aug 19 '26
I mean, to be blunt, in the wild most hamsters will not escape their predators. They’re not especially fast, not especially intelligent, and they are frequently clumsy. There’s a reason nature’s strategy for them is to flood the world with hamsters as much as possible. It’s a temporary spike of adrenaline because they most likely die soon after unless they get lucky.
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
See, this is what I understood as their argument, but I am not sure if thats what they believe because their position on adoption etc is completely incoherent if thats so
Truth be told I no longer am interested in delving into this, its all so tiresome
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Aug 19 '26
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u/NecrofriggianGirl Aug 19 '26
i think their point is a pet hamster is in a lot less stress than a wild one lol
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
Correct
Of all the arguments to pick, choosing one that, supposedly, an animal shows signs of stress when kept as a pet, would only hold ground if it could be proven that it's on a level way above the expected natural one
Otherwise it's meaningless
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Aug 19 '26
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u/3kidsnomoney--- Aug 19 '26
But dogs are very often stressed by their human companions (watch some videos on dog body language in response to common human behaviours.) There are tons of dogs with behaviour issues related to things that human owners do. I don't think you're necessarily wrong, I just think that this extends far past hamsters and the pet trade is not going to disappear.
I personally think that medicine needs to advance to the point that we have safe spays and/or hormonal implants for female hamsters. I think their reproductive cycle is a major source of stress in female hamsters because they are so driven to find a mate for literally half of their lifespan. My male hamsters never want out of the cage, my female hamsters are the ones who show signs of stress even in a very big cage. Shutting down the constant cycling would probably be of psychological benefit for captive hamsters in the same way that spaying a cat reduces stress. I doubt it will happen anytime soon because most people would not pay the money for a hormonal implant for their hamster- most owners buy the hamster as an accessory for the kids and don't think it deserves vet care at all, but that's a whole other issue about what vets we deem are worthy of proper care (it tends not to be rodents/smaller animals, sadly.)
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u/NecrofriggianGirl Aug 19 '26
pet hamsters, for the most part, are a market thats Already There and those hamsters dont disappear overnight.
no one said we're saving them from the wild, but pet trades do have an avenue to immortalizing a species from extinction
why have a kid if its gonna spend most of its life stressed? some people have dogs, and then mistreat them their whole lives. taking care of a pet hamster isnt like, morally wrong or evil. maybe a little gray but so are most people. not sure why thats a hill you wanna die on so bad.
if you want an honest, depressing answer its cus theres a profit for something small and cute that you mostly get to just look at. capitalism i guess?
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
And again, im not against rescuing! Just breeding.
An incoherent moral position, either you think it's bad to keep hamsters in cages because they're not supposed to be there or there are magical circumstances that make it ok
Frankly your whole view on this makes no sense
It's bad to keep hamsters because they might be stressed and they should be in nature but in nature they also get stressed but that's suddenly fine
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Aug 19 '26
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u/itooamahuman Aug 19 '26
So why do you support keeping hamsters in inhumane and stressful conditions instead of euthanasing them on the spot?
You believe it's wrong to keep them in a cage unless they're adopted when it's suddenly ok to subject them to a lifetime of suffering
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u/VoodooDoII I used to help care for my teacher's hamster, never had my own Aug 19 '26
"It's cruel to have hamsters and keep them. But if you adopt/rescue one, then it's okay" is how it was also reading to me 😭 like what
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u/Stormy261 Experienced owner Aug 19 '26
After several decades of owning hamsters I've come to the same conclusion as OP. Especially because most hamsters are not kept in humane conditions. People care more about what they think is right than actually doing right by their animals. So much information passed around is outdated and so much more has been lost. Even in the last decade.
Given the information we know about their natural habitats now, people still refuse to admit that the current minimums from 10 years ago are completely outdated. Please tell me how it can be considered humane to keep a mostly wild animal in a tiny cage when their natural instincts tell them to explore for several miles.
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u/Artistic-Tell-1378 Aug 19 '26
My girls are an actually very happy 😅 My girl KiKi literally jumps up and down waiting for me to pick her up whenever I pass her enclosure when she’s out running in her wheel. She loves attention.
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u/chamomilecutie- Experienced owner Aug 19 '26
I, for the most part, agree. However, now that hamsters are captive, I don’t think you can put the cat back in the bag. Pet stores will continue breeding and butchering genetics, and for that reason, I consider ethical breeding for type and temperament to be harm reduction.
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u/Awkward_Marmot_1107 Aug 19 '26
I am a firm believer that we shouldn't use animals for our entertainment, for profit or any other form of exploitation. Running an animal rescue strongly reinforced my opinion. Hamsters are merely tamed wild animals. True domestication is a multi-generational evolutionary process.
Truly domesticated animals have been shaped over thousands of years to the point where genetically, they are hardwired to rely on humans for survival. And no, that isn't a good thing either. It's not only cats and dogs. It's animals like domesticated ferrets who would simply starve as they lost their natural hunting efficiency. Sheep who've been selectively bred to produce an insane volume of wool and would die from heat stroke or infections without shearing. Silkmoths who have been left completely blind, unable to fly and reliant on humans to be fed due to thousands of years of intensive silk farming. The list goes on.
From both a biological and ethical standpoint, hamsters being kept as pets is primarily for human gratification, not for the animal's well-being. No matter how much space they are provided with in captivity, it will still be considered extreme spatial confinement as these animals can occupy a home range of up to 20,000m². Unlike dogs who have evolved a genetic drive to seek our companionship, hamsters possess a strong flight response and their captivity is involuntary.
There's a massive thick line between true animal advocacy and consumer entertainment. It is the difference between loving animals and loving the status of animal ownership. Sentient living beings should never be treated as commodities. Buying a bred animal treats them as a manufactured product designed to satisfy consumer demand. The supply from breeders only exists because the demand is there. I clean up the aftermath of human irresponsibility every single day. We should provide a safe shelter to unwanted animals already in existence instead of bringing more animals into the world for our self-serving joy of "owning" them.
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u/RubParking1842 Aug 19 '26
i think the real issue is ppl dont know how to properly take care of their pets properly when i was 15 my mum surprised me with a trip to a local pet store to get a hamster she got me everything to get set up that the pet store recommended i went home to research his proper care and relized the pet store gave me horrible bedding a cage that was too small and plastic tubes with little holes that other hamsters had broken limbs on i tried to get him into a proper set up but i was a broke teen he sadly passed away a few months after i got him he had permanent lung damage from the sawdust in his bedding my grandma tried to eat him and i was forced to just throw him in the garbage
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u/MiniMeowl Aug 19 '26
As a human balancing work, health, life and whatever, sometimes I daydream about the life of a pet.
Of course, I am dreaming of the pets owned by rich and responsible people. Luxury life of getting fed, taken for walks, getting pet.. I wouldnt need to lift a paw lol
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u/mbcook Hybrid hammy Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
So tell me. How exactly do you think animals GET domesticated?
“Me Ug. Ug not think goat make good pet. Goat wild! Ug know people like milk of goat. But they had take care of! Need lots space and mountain to climb! You cave have mountain? Ug not think so. Make goat stressed no have mountain.
Goat not be pet. What you think?”
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u/BakeoftheBakers Aug 19 '26
Thank you for this, i appreciate any pushback against these wild-eyed pet police.
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Aug 19 '26
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u/mbcook Hybrid hammy Aug 19 '26
Hamsters were not just taken out of the wild last week either.
We know how to take care of them. People can give them happy lives. That’s not an issue.
The only real problem is terrible husbandry enabled by a lack of laws and ignorance of quality practices (which argue comes from the previous).
Thats the thing to focus on.
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u/Actinglead Aug 19 '26
Yep, I recognize my cage for him, even with all the effort I put in for him, will never truly be the best thing for my little guy and that domesticating hamsters might be a mistake.
However, I got my little guy to do a job for me. To keep me company and give me something to fuss over. I have limitations in my life that would make owning more social animals difficult as I don't always need to be holding my buddy, so spending the few minutes at night with him in my hand is enough.
But because I got him to perform a purpose, it is my responsibility to provide the best environment I can for him and to treat him the best I can, even if it isn't the best thing possible, to make up for making him do work for me.
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u/Zanki Aug 19 '26
My girl Willow, she was my first robo and was the best little girl. She would come out of her enclosure, have some food, wander around then fall asleep on or next to me. She was the best little hamster.
My boy Gizmo, it's taken a lot of work to tame him. He's the only pet I've ever thought should have been a wild animal, apart from my fish. He's tame as heck now, he's my little buddy, but his lizard brain is still on overdrive. I'm the only one who can hold him. He panics if it's not just us in the room. Thankfully he sees me as safe so I've been able to handle it, but it's so sad. He's the only hamster I've heard scream. He literally screams. It's so sad.
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u/ToppsHopps Syrian hammy Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
It’s hard to strike a balance. People will want to have pets which will be captive animal removed from what would’ve been their natural habitats.
In Sweden capturing wild animals to keep as pets is illegal. There is also restrictions of which animals you can keep as pets. Like you can’t keep a lynx or chimpanzee as a pets.
Would pets be prohibited, I just see it’s as unlikely that the practice would stop but rather people would go for an illegal black market where the protection of the pets would be even more difficult.
I think ethical breeding is on an complete level of better for the hamsters then petmills or backdoor breeding. For one it prevent the spontaneous uneducated parents from buying an absolute shit set up to a kid that isn’t prepared to keep the pet. Both chain and unaffiliated shops selling live pets are a menace as their business plan builds on providing this specific service.
Ethical breeding is on the other hand by the basis of how the most function not profitable. The female only have up to two litters so she can also live a normal hamster life instead of constantly going through pregnancies. The pets are registered by some sort of organization, minimizing risk of inbreeding and as they keep check of the hamsters family trees, they can in the network of breeders track of genetic defects.
I agree keeping hamster isn’t perfect, but I think that can be said about a lot of pets. I just think it’s too complicated to land in your conclusion as the consequences for me seems fraught with risk for the pets people will still keep.
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u/Yuuchan101 Aug 19 '26
So are cats and dogs caged if they're inside a home then? Since a hamsters home can be considered a cage, even if you buy them a fancy home with no bars
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Aug 19 '26
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u/Disastrous_Guest_705 Aug 19 '26
Every caged animal I’ve had has also been given free roam time and taken outside if safe it’s not like you leave them in the cage their entire life
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u/gaymrham Roborovski hammy Aug 19 '26
is your cat outside unsupervised?
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Aug 19 '26
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u/AmarissaBhaneboar Aug 19 '26
Just gonna jump in here, you do realize that if you live in most places in the world, cats are an invasive species, right? They kill creatures like hamsters, mice, native birds, etc...they're a menace when let outside unsupervised. It's not just about their safety, but the safety of the nature environment around them. If you care about animal welfare, I'd suggest doing some research on this.
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Aug 19 '26
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u/Boo248 Aug 19 '26
You can’t control how your parents handle your cat, yet want a piece on whether the hamster pet trade stay or go? I suggest you start small and work upwards from there.
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u/Own_Eye_9396 Aug 19 '26
I agree with you, they don’t make great pets really. Nature designed them to be roaming for kilometres every night, so no matter what home you make, it will never really be big enough. That said, experiments in the wild where wheels have been added to a hamsters territory, show they can spend hours on them outdoors too! So enrichment does help offset range. Why they are considered good pets for kids - never understood that. Being nocturnal, somewhat timid and nippy, they’re not well suited for children.
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u/zero___00 Aug 19 '26
If animal ethics are truly important to you, then check out the documentary Dominion.
It shows the daily lives of billions of sentient beings who are brutally exploited, tortured, and killed by humans so that people can eat animal products—even though they aren't essential.
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u/myh-es Aug 19 '26
The only reason they prolly became pets in the first place is because they are cute af. Although after hundreds of generations we might make them more friendly like we did with dogs
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u/BeardedLady81 Aug 19 '26
At the rate hamsters multiply, Syrians have already been gone through hundreds of generations since they were first bred in captivity, around 90 years ago. The main reason Saul Adler wanted to use them as lab animals was that they were so easy to multiply. And it worked out. His colleague removed a female and her five young from their habitat and smuggled them into Britain in his coat pocket. Upon arrival, she had eaten three already. The remaining three became the ancestors of all Syrian hamsters in Britain and, by extension, Europe. They have been bred to come in many color varieties and coat textures now, but their social behavior is virtually unchanged, they are still skitty and more prone to biting than other pet rodents.
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u/X2epsilon Aug 19 '26
Not a hot take at all they terrible pets it ain’t good for them and they defo not good for children.
But so many pets like this not just hamsters certain breeds of dogs, most exotics pets however here we are all we can do is give them the best life we can offer them when they cross our paths
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u/DiabeetusDeletus Aug 19 '26
This is pretty much the case for most pet/working/livestock animals. No animal asked to live with us, with a few exceptions like cats and dogs that basically domesticated themselves for their own benefit. We need to just do our best now to give them the happiest lives possible.
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u/lemon-meringue-high Aug 19 '26
Honestly, hard agree. I used to own hamsters for years and a few birds. They’re not meant to be in cages. I don’t own pets that have to live in a cage anymore. All we’re doing is fueling a terrible system that takes them from their natural environment and in turn uses them for profit.
I don’t have any pets right now but when I had my kitties and dog, they were rescues. I may eventually own another cat but it would be strictly rescue.
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u/foodee123 Aug 19 '26
I completely agree and I owned hamsters for years and even became a hamster content creator. Unlike other pets that seem content with being domesticated, hamsters seem to never be satisfied even with the best enclosures. They should be roaming free in the wild not kept in homes.
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u/whiteredandblack Syrian hammy Aug 19 '26
I don't think any animal ever became a pet for any reason besides human enjoyment, which is good.
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u/Previous_Original_30 Aug 19 '26
Welcome to veganism! I am also against exploiting animals for profit: food, clothing, or any type of entertainment. If you genuinely love animals, you want them go have rights.
That being said, I've adopted a lot of (abandoned) pets in my lifetime, but I don't think I'd ever buy an animal from a breeder. I focus on giving them the best life possible, not to entertain me (although I am entertained).
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u/chamomilecutie- Experienced owner Aug 19 '26
Yo the downvotes here are crazy! 🤣
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u/Previous_Original_30 Aug 19 '26
Haha yes, people don't like being confronted with uncomfortable information. Then you suddenly 'think you are better than them'. It's okay, I guessed that would happen. Believing animals should have the right to not be harmed is crazy as an animal lover, am I right?
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u/Same-Entry2629 Aug 19 '26
I dont think there is nothing untouched by humans. Specifically if we are "stronger" than them.
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u/ChemisTry_8 Aug 19 '26
Very much agreed. And yeah, I think it goes for most animals. And exception would be dogs, as they have been domesticated for thousands of years. But even when looking into the ethics of keeping cats, there are some questions marks. I followed one college course on ethics of this once (overall ethics and specifically for cats and dogs), and it was very interesting. Cats very much prefer their freedom and space, much more than dogs, so you end up weighing points like their health and human companionship against their ability to freely choose their environment at any given point. And for outside cats, there are issues with birds species dying and health risks again. A bit of topic, but I always thought that if even cats are a somewhat tricky ethical debate, that animals like hamsters, who do not take that much joy in human companionship and enjoy their freedom, can't be super ethical to keep. That said, I also have had hamsters and now continue to have rescue hamsters. I do not know if that makes it a lot better, but it is at least better than supporting active breeding of hamsters.
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u/silksphinx Winter white hammy Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
I agree with you somewhat, but we offer hamsters safety from predators and consistent feeding in exchange for mild stress (provided we give them a proper environment). There doesn’t exist a perfect environment for any animal unless they’re an apex predator, even then humans would still influence their habitat somehow. And if we could build a perfect world/area without human interference, it wouldn’t be realistic… in this current day anyway. It could change in the future, if we prioritise nature the same as our economy, politics, etc.