To what extent can an animal constitute a ‘juridical species’? This highly original book considers how animals have been integral to law and to legal thinking.

Going beyond the traditional approaches to animal rights and the question of whether non-human animals may be considered legal ‘subjects,’ this book follows two types of animal – bears and bees – and asks what existence these species have maintained in juridical thought. Uncovering surprising roles that the animals play in the imagination of and solution to jurisprudential problems, the book offers a counter-argument to the view that juridical thought reduces one’s appreciation for the singularity and independence of their lives. It shows, rather, that the animals exert a remarkable influence on the creative dimensions of law, offering a liveliness to it that is worthy of close attention.

Contributing to new directions at the intersection of jurisprudence and human–animal studies, this book will appeal to those with interests in either of these areas.