American Journal of Political Science
The territorial rights of wild animals: Justification
2026-09-01
Territorial rights (TR) have become foundational in normative political theory, addressing pressing questions about boundary drawing, governance, and resource use. Influential TR theorists Cara Nine and Margaret Moore justify humans’ TR based on the functional, social, and identity‐anchored normative significance of non‐substitutable places. However, these arguments treat animals as resources, excluding them from normative consideration and political standing. This article analyzes Nine and Moore's arguments to assess whether their justificatory logic applies to wild animals. Using mule deers as a case study, I test whether they have sufficiently weighty interests in occupancy, residency, resource use, and control to ground duties on humans and whether TR theories should continue to treat animals as mere natural resources.