Do animals commit suicide?

[Chickenfur]

the last time one of my hens died, my little brother thought it committed suicide, cuz it looked like it fell from the rafters. my sister said they didn't have enough room in their brain for suicidal thoughts.

 

[Matthew3590]

Animals always know when someone is dead. A deer knows when its child just got eaten by a bear. They don't think the fawn will just get up after words. If its not dead they go back to help but they know when an animal is a gonner and will leave it.

 

[desertdarlene]

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I've seen deer stand and watch wolves eat a herd member all the while stomping their feet and calling to the deer to run when it was already dead and being eaten. I saw a male wood duck call to his mate over and over even after a hawk had her in his talons and was plucking her.

 

[sheaviance1]

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I have to politely disagree. I have worked with bloodhounds trained for search and rescue. There are too many instances documented that shows a bloodhound tracking someone, and as soon as they smell the scent of death, their tail drops (held very high and wagging while searching), most will cry, and when they make their find, they are not happy about it. When they find a living person, they are ecstatic, and it is very evident in their behavior, but when they find a dead human, they usually are very visibly and audibly distressed.

Also, very recently, there was a piece on the news about the elephant and the dog that were best friends at the elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. The dog was killed by a coyote attack. The elephant found it's body, picked it up in its trunk, and brought it home. She had to be aware that her friend was dead and could not move on its own, else, she would have just left it be where it was. Poor elephant has been depressed since.


Yes, I know they do not have tear ducts. I am referring to an audible cry.

 

[sheaviance1]

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This happened at the Elephant Sanctuary here in Tennessee. The elephant was VERY aware that her dear friend was dead. The handlers at the Sanctuary say that not only did it appear that she knew she had lost her friend, but during the night had gone through a grieving process and come to terms with the loss. She was very uninterested in the burial process (usually the elephants participate when they lose one of their own). Cameras have caught her spending time at the gravesite though since the burial. In addition, her elephant pals seem to realize that she is grieving. They are all expressing signs of care (sharing treats with her, spending more time with her, etc). All of these are out of the ordinary behaviours that are clearly a response to the loss.

My favorite story of grief from the elephant sanctuary concerned one of the elephants who had had a hard life previously. This elephant had a "woobie", an old tire that she carried with her constantly. She was never without it and she didn't want the others to mess with it. It was her security blanket and she was very attached to it. After coming to the sanctuary she began to make friends with the other elephants. One of her buddies died unexpectedly. As is typical, the caregivers and elephants had a burial service for the lost one. Caregivers later noticed something strange on top of the gravesite. The elephant had placed her tire directly on top of the grave. She left it there for several days before retrieving it again.

Elephants are aware of death. I think dogs are as well. I think there are probably other species who grasp the concept of death too. I don't know if they "commit suicide" as we think of it, but I think perhaps there are occasions when they choose to die.

They just did another piece about them on the news this morning. She seems to still be grieving

 

[Beekissed]

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You would think so, wouldn't you? Twice this summer I witnessed does frantically running to and fro in a hay field, attempting to keep the buzzards off a dead fawn. One of them I attempted to help, thinking the fawn was merely injured, but when I approached the fawn I could tell it had been dead for quite awhile and the buzzards had already eaten it's hindquarters nearly gone.

It was such a sad sight to see....as one mother to another, it was tragic to watch.

 

[nop169]

Worked in a Veterinarian practice for 20 years and saw many examples of animals grieving for lost mates or owners. I truely believe animals are self aware and sense much more about their environment than we credit them with. But in the question about suicide I think you have to examine it in two ways. First, domesticated animals respond differently than wild animals. Domestic pets/animals have been pampered and lose many of their geneticly engineered attributes due to their environment. For example, wolves & coyotes are devoted parents to the pups of the lead female. Family devotion is highly driven by instinct to others of their own group/species. In domestic pets, those traits are present but generally to another co-pet or the owner. That affection & loyalty remains even in death of the mate/owner. You all know dogs are smart, loyal animals. You know they often save owners from fires, burglers & so on. They are self aware and aware of their environment & of those who share it. "love" or what we define as love is present in all species... do they recognize it as the same as we do? Who knows... but it is possible to deduce they do from their actions. I believe their grief is real. I do believe & have seen animals that grieve themselves to death either from withdrawel & refusal to eat & drink or from simply wasting away laying next to a grave. Is that suicide? I think that is life. People who lose much often cannot carry on & allow their life to drain away - are we unique in that we feel more? Experience pain more? Experience lonliness & confusion & fear?
Typically in wildlife you hear of the fight versus flight choices animals are gentically geared for. And documentation shows that continuation of the genepool is utmost in animals minds.. in other words they are genetically geared to loose their lives for their young at times, and many species breed & then die protecting their nest/eggs. Some species even allow their young to feed on their bodies as they die to complete the life cycle that is normal for them. It is also documented where older animals or sick animals leave the herd to die or leave the herd in times of stress/drought conditions & starvation is occuring. Continuation of the species is utmost in their genetic makeup. Individual loses are acceptable as long as the species can replicate. Herd animals show this trait often. But is this done knowingly? Yes in that the individual knows they are unwell or old. Suicide? Well to me no, they simply choose to allow their lives to end whether for the betterment of the whole herd or are tired of living I can't say. Even in ancient civilizations and especially native american lore, older people would leave the tribe in times of hardship & go off to die in order to insure the survival of the tribe. Granted the youngest children are often also allowed to die and focus is on saving the older children. This is a common trend in even Africa today... save who you can who insures the continuim of the species. Does that make us animals? Does it make animals more or less humane?
When talking about whales & dolphins, I agree that studies have shown the beaching is often caused by confusion that was engineered by human activities such as sonar & radar. But I think you also have to consider whether it could be a group suicide due to the pollution of their environment (by us). In human populations, groups have commited suicide due to the environment, religious beliefs or to avoid captivity. This is documented even in the Bible where the jews would commit suicide as families rather than fall into Roman hands. SO my question is: are animals intelligent enough to know of their environmental quality and if so choose to end their lives rather than live a slow death? I would say yes. Why do we assume they are less intelligent than we are? I agree the intelligence is different but it still is present.
This was a very good question. Thought provoking. And one that made us all stop & think.

 

[EweSheep]

Good input, Nop!

 

[thebigmisk]

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Oh, thats right, the male commits it. Guess he figures the payoff is worth it

haha

 

[chickened]

Animals can and do a lot of things similar to human behaviors and emotions like facial expresssions and gestures but in order to commit suicide they would have to reason and that they cannot readily do. Animals learn through punishment and reward not by reasoning.