A whale whose calf has died carries the corpse of its calf with it for more than 2 weeks; the screeching of cows seeing their friends die in the slaughterhouses; when a dolphin’s friend dies in a dolphin park, it sinks to the bottom of the pool and comes to the surface just to breathe; Instances of Coco gorilla crying looking at a photograph of her deceased feline friend have all actually happened.
In other words, it is an undeniable fact that animals react differently to the concept of “death”, but it is a matter of curiosity with what motivation they do this and whether they perceive death as it does in humans.
Animals can show various reactions to death.
Death reactions, which may differ according to animal species, are generally; It can be seen in the form of stopping without eating, drinking, stopping socializing, being quiet and sleeping too much. Sounds pretty similar to humans, right?
Elephants are one of the most well-known examples of mourning animals.
African elephants perform a burial after their friends or relatives. They wander around their bones and sit silently on the corpses for a long time, motionless, head down.
There is another interesting ritual observed in Asian elephants. They cover the corpse with twigs and leaves and walk around it as if they were holding a funeral.
They also have another rare behavior: Some female elephants wrap their dead cubs in their trunks and carry them with them for days. What do you think, is this really a sign of human-like grief? Are they simply curious or do they also feel grief?
These images of the killer whale, which carried the dead body of its cub for 17 days, were both heartbreaking and shocking:
If we look at the behaviors seen in crows, we can understand that there is no concept of death and grief that is valid for all animals.
Crows gather around the dead and organize a tumultuous ceremony. While examining the corpse, they may yell, peck, attack, and sometimes even attempt to mate with the dead.
Some researchers from here; suggests that the concept of death in birds can evoke feelings of threat, risk, and vulnerability in them.
The higher the sociability level of the species, the higher the likelihood of mourning.
We humans, a species of animals, are social beings. In other animal species, it is possible to come across those who live more individually and are far from social. Our reactions to death and the meanings it attaches to it are probably at a higher level than any other living thing. Scientists also say that the more social a species is, the more likely it is to grieve.
Consider, for example, the closest species to us, the monkeys. Behaviors such as not eating after the dead and staying away from socialism may occur in them, and their social circles try to encourage them to do something, just like people do.
It is not necessary to understand the concept of ‘death’ to be able to grieve.
It may seem strange that animals have the ability to ‘make sense of events and concepts’, but there is still a lot we don’t know about their worlds of thought and emotion.
In order for them to understand the concept of death, as we humans do, “I will never be able to see him again, I will not be able to collect new memories with him.” They don’t need to go into complicated thoughts like that. They may simply be confused or feeling fear and stress.
We need more research on animal cognition and emotions.
The questions raised by the feelings of grief and their reactions to death in animals indicate that we need much more study on the mood and cognitive capacities of animals.
It is clear that they react to death, but it is still not clear how exactly they motivated this reaction or how their cognitions perceive this situation and how they feel.
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