All right, thanks so much for your helpful comments everyone!
Breath of the Wild Mushrooms update:
It's definitely going to be hard, and additionally,
what counts as animals I wouldn't want to hunt is proving surprisingly difficult to determine. Khush mentions being attacked by wolves; that hasn't happened yet, but I did get swarmed by bees. I felt justified in setting off a bomb, for purposes of
self-preservation. Will invoke that clause too if wolves should appear - aiming to injure/kill just one to send the pack running is probably the most proportional response in that case.
I've caused the death of another beehive too - by shooting it down above an enemy, so as to enact the scene from Hunger Games 1. This was intentional on my part, which leads to wondering
whether insects should be included. On the one hand, without them it'll be really hard to make elixers at all, and they're good sources of protein too haha. On the other, are they not animals too? So far I've released a beetle I caught on accident, as well as a butterfly.
Taking the life of bokoblins and other aggressors (keese, etc.), even pre-emptively, I find less troublesome. Even if they're not provoking violence, they still are hell-bent on the murder of myself, wildlife (as evidenced by the boars and fish they grill), and presumably the other human inhabitants of the world. They appear unwilling to attempt even the most basic form of communication; I wistled at one to establish vocal contact and was greeted with an arrow to the butt. (It is possibly I was mistaken for a wolf-whistling moron deserving of a smack, but their violence was not proportional regardless.) Lastly, their alignment with essentially a Great Evil (whether voluntary, forced, or by nature) make them a threat to the world I feel justified in removing.
Lastly,
domestication of horses has come up recently, as well as the capture of a fairy. I feel that fairies are fair game to hold captive for now, since they can clearly leave on their own accord after performing some magic. (Also I'm super **** and die to even the most basic monsters so I'll need them.) The horses... Judging from the quality of life offered by stables, plus the protection Link can offer against potential predators, I'd say it's fine to domesticate one even if it does constitute removing them from their initial habitat against their will.
You just swim up to the fish and grab them. No need to kill them.
Also, you will be given the warm doublet if you finish the "tutorial" without giving him the the recipe. After the "reveal" go back to his house and it is sitting in a chest with a note telling you it is yours.
Yes, I discovered that! Really happy the designers thought of that. I feel like just scooping up a fish would still remove it from a place where it can breathe though; plus cooking it would result in its death too, so ideally I'd go without it haha.