Abstract
Over 8.1 billion individuals represent the human species, homo sapiens, which is one of the millions of species that make up the animal kingdom on this planet. Species on Earth have evolved over hundreds of millions of years and contain vast diversity, ranging from the microscopic to the colossal (Holland, 2011). Whilst we (i.e. humans) may know our population size, counting all animals (or even all the species) on the planet is beyond our capabilities. We cannot even know for sure how many species have gone extinct, let alone how many have done so because of the actions of humans. This may well speak to a traditional lack of appreciation of the animal other amongst many human societies. However, we can understand that thousands of different nonhuman species populate the planet alongside us, living both domestically and wild, and everything in between (Ritchie, 2022). Within this, each individual (human and nonhuman) engages with living in the world and entangles with other species and individuals (Van Dijk, 2021). For humans, this means nonhumans are influential in our lives in general, and, with specific reference to this special issue, our leisure. People and nonhuman animals can play, relax, or compete together. They can entangle and cause pleasure, enjoyment, unhappiness, pain, and desires. Humans entangle with nonhuman animals across the leisure-scape, at home, during competitions or events, in wild, rural and urban spaces, and via organizations. In short, the vast and varied animal population necessitates an inseparable connection between human leisure and nonhuman animal life, and it is these connections that concern this special issue.