While it is hard to say what she truly felt, Tahlequah the killer whale appeared heartbroken when her calf died soon after being born. As any mother would, she took it hard, and could not let go. Tahlequah carried her child’s body for 1,000 miles over 17 days before finally letting her go.
We all know there are many differences between humans and animals. The ability to use advanced tools or cook our food are things that set us apart. Many people feel that animals aren’t capable of having the same emotions as humans. Grief appears to be one emotion that we have in common with some animals.
The feeling of grief can be hard to stomach for a person who experiences tragedy. Everyone grieves in a different way, too. Some people shut down and other people try to forget about the tragedy. New studies show that some mammals go through a similar process when a loved one dies. For example, when a herd of elephants comes across a dead member of their pack, it’s hard to say they don’t mourn the loss. Instead of just moving on, they will gather around the body, sometimes for hours. The immediate family will be the most affected, but the whole pack will be there to show their support.
Chimpanzees go through a similar process. They have human-like reactions after the death of a loved one. After discovering the dead body of a family member, chimpanzees will rarely leave it unattended. Most of the time, the mother and father will sit and sulk with the body for hours. Later, the mother will carry her child’s body away with her. This is not all that different from the normal human process of grieving and burial.
So it’s easy to see that loss greatly affects at least some animals. It goes to show that animals do have human-like emotions. This discovery is leading scientists to other interesting questions. If animals are capable of feeling grief, then what other human emotions are they capable of? And are there any emotions that animals display that humans don’t express?
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzrige2nqqw
https://nypost.com/2013/04/28/how-animals-mourn-their-dead/
https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/04/11/176620943/when-animals-mourn-seeing-that-grief-is-not-uniquely-human
It’s hard to say how she really felt, but the killer whale looked heartbroken. Tahlequah’s baby died soon after being born. As any mother would, she took it hard. She could not let go.
Tahlequah carried her child’s body for 1,000 miles. After 17 days, she finally let go. There are many differences between humans and animals. The ability to use advanced tools or cook our food sets us apart. Many people feel that animals don’t have the same emotions as humans. Sadness when we lose a loved one is a feeling that we have in common with some animals.
Loss can be hard to stomach. Some people shut down, and other people try to forget. Some animals go through a similar process when a loved one dies. When elephants find a dead member of their pack, it’s hard to say they don’t feel sadness. Instead of just moving on, they gather around the body for hours. The closest family will be the most affected, but the whole pack will show their support.
Chimpanzees go through a similar process after the death of a loved one. After finding the dead body of a family member, chimpanzees will rarely leave it unattended. Most of the time, the mother and father will sit and sulk with the body for hours. Later, the mother will carry her child’s body away with her. This is not all that different from the normal human process of grieving and burial.
It’s easy to see that loss greatly affects at least some animals. It goes to show that animals do have human-like emotions. This discovery is leading scientists to other interesting questions. If animals can feel grief, then what other human-like feelings do they have? And are there any emotions that animals have that humans don’t?
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzrige2nqqw
https://nypost.com/2013/04/28/how-animals-mourn-their-dead/
https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/04/11/176620943/when-animals-mourn-seeing-that-grief-is-not-uniquely-human
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