Do Animals Understand Death? Exploring Grief in the Animal Kingdom

The question of whether animals understand death and experience grief is a complex and fascinating one. For a long time, the prevailing scientific view was that humans were unique in their capacity for complex emotions like grief, while animals were simply reacting to their environment. However, increasing evidence suggests that this view may be too simplistic. Let's delve into the world of animal behavior and explore the signs of mourning observed in various species.

Challenging the Human-Exceptionalism Paradigm

Charles Darwin was among the first to suggest that animals experience a wide range of emotions, including grief. However, many scientists were hesitant to project human emotions onto animals, citing the lack of a clear understanding of their minds. It was also argued that unusual behaviors following a death could be attributed to other adaptive reasons.

Evidence of Grief in Animals

Over time, numerous observations have challenged the idea that humans are the only species capable of grieving. Here are a few compelling examples:

• Koko the Gorilla: In 1985, Koko, a gorilla trained in American Sign Language, was informed of her kitten companion's death. She displayed distress and, weeks later, used signs like "cry," "sad," and "frown" when shown a photo of another kitten.
• Elephants and Their Dead: Elephants have been observed exhibiting remarkable behaviors around the deceased. In one instance, when an elephant matriarch named Eleanor collapsed, another matriarch, Grace, tried to help her stand. After Eleanor died, another female, Maui, rocked back and forth over her body. Elephants from multiple families visited Eleanor's body over a week. There have also been observations of elephants carrying the remains of family members, including jawbones and tusks.
• Giraffe Mourning: In 2010, a giraffe calf with a deformed foot died after just four weeks. On the day of the calf's death, 22 other female giraffes and four juveniles closely attended to and nuzzled the body. The mother remained by her dead calf for three days, even after hyenas began scavenging the remains, and she wasn't eating.
• Baboon Stress Response: Researchers analyzed baboon fecal samples for glucocorticoids, stress hormones that increase when humans are bereaved. They found that baboons who had lost a close relative in a predator attack had significantly higher glucocorticoid levels in the month following the death. These baboons also increased their grooming behavior and expanded their social networks.
• Primate Mothers and Conflicting Impulses: Primate mothers have been observed engaging in seemingly contradictory behaviors with their dead infants, such as switching between cannibalizing or dragging the corpse and carefully carrying or grooming it. This suggests that the mothers were experiencing conflicting impulses towards the bodies.

The Implications of Understanding Animal Grief

The question of whether animals grieve has significant implications for how we treat them. If animals are capable of experiencing grief, it raises ethical concerns about practices such as:

• Keeping orcas in captivity
• Separating dairy cows from their newborn calves

Moving Forward: A Call for More Research

Our understanding of the emotional lives of animals is still limited. More research is needed to fully understand mourning in the animal kingdom. Until we have more data, we must consider whether we should treat animals as if they have the capacity to grieve, or assume they don't, and consider which belief could cause more harm.

By acknowledging the possibility of grief in animals, we can begin to develop more compassionate and ethical approaches to their care and treatment. The more we learn, the better we can understand and respect the complex emotional lives of the creatures with whom we share this planet.