adding to the list, crows and magpies grieve as well. it's a well documented behaviour! Seeing empathy in so many places just shows how natural, and beyond human that feeling is.
I recently read an article that some whales have been known to beach themselves after one of their members beached and died. These mass die-off are rare but they attribute it to their compassion and empathy as well.
Not surprising that highly social animals with strong behavioral bonding will experience emotional responses to loss of companions or offspring. I don’t understand people who dismiss this by saying it’s anthropomorphic interpretation on our part.
I worked with chimpanzees and I learned that what we don’t understand about animals and their capacity for emotions is A LOT!
adding to the list, crows and magpies grieve as well. it's a well documented behaviour! Seeing empathy in so many places just shows how natural, and beyond human that feeling is.
I recently read an article that some whales have been known to beach themselves after one of their members beached and died. These mass die-off are rare but they attribute it to their compassion and empathy as well.
Not surprising that highly social animals with strong behavioral bonding will experience emotional responses to loss of companions or offspring. I don’t understand people who dismiss this by saying it’s anthropomorphic interpretation on our part.