Foto av Ginger Me
Forlegenhet er vanskelig å observere. Per definisjon er det en følelse som man prøver å skjule. Men den verdenskjente primatologen Jane Goodall mener hun har observert det som kan kalles forlegenhet hos sjimpanser.
Fifi var en kvinnelig sjimpanse som Jane kjente i mer enn 40 år. Da Fifis eldste barn, Freud, var fem og et halvt år gammel, var onkelen hans, Fifis bror Figan, alfahannen i sjimpansesamfunnet deres. Freud fulgte alltid Figan som om han tilba den store hannen.
En gang, mens Fifi stelte Figan, klatret Freud opp på den tynne stilken til en vill plantain. Da han nådde den løvrike kronen, begynte han å svaie vilt frem og tilbake. Hadde han vært et menneskebarn, hadde vi sagt at han viste seg frem. Plutselig brast stilken og Freud ramlet ned i det lange gresset. Han ble ikke skadet. Han landet nær Jane, og da hodet hans dukket opp fra gresset, så hun ham se over på Figan. Hadde han lagt merke til det? Hvis han hadde gjort det, ga han ingen oppmerksomhet, men fortsatte å bli stelt. Freud klatret veldig stille opp i et annet tre og begynte å mate.
Psykolog Marc Hauser fra Harvard University observerte det som kan kalles flauhet hos en mannlig rhesusape. Etter å ha paret seg med en hunn, spankulerte hannen bort og falt ved et uhell i en grøft. Han reiste seg og så seg raskt rundt. Etter å ha merket at ingen andre aper så ham tumle, marsjerte han av gårde, høyt ryggen med hodet og halen opp, som om ingenting hadde skjedd.
Animal Rescues: Føler medfølelse for de som trenger det
Historier om dyr som redder medlemmer av sin egen og andre arter, inkludert mennesker, florerer. De viser hvordan individer av forskjellige arter viser medfølelse og empati for de som trenger det.
I Torquay, Australia, etter at en kengurumor ble truffet av en bil, oppdaget en hund en baby-joey i vesken hennes og tok den med til eieren som tok seg av den unge gutten. Den 10 år gamle hunden og 4 måneder gamle joey ble etter hvert bestevenner.
Foto av Flickker Photos
På en strand i New Zealand kom en delfin til unnsetning av to pygmespermhvaler som strandet bak en sandbanke. Etter at folk forgjeves prøvde å få hvalene ned på dypere vann, dukket delfinen opp og de to hvalene fulgte den tilbake i havet.
Hunder er også kjent for å hjelpe de som trenger det. En tapt pitbull-mutt brøt opp et forsøk på overfall av en kvinne som forlot en lekeplass med sønnen sin i Port Charlotte, Florida. En dyrekontrolloffiser sa at det var tydelig at hunden prøvde å forsvare kvinnen, som han ikke kjente. Og utenfor Buenos Aires, Argentina, reddet en hund en forlatt baby ved å plassere ham trygt blant sine egne nyfødte valper. Utrolig nok bar hunden babyen omtrent 150 fot til der valpene hennes lå etter å ha oppdaget babyen dekket av en fille på en åker.
Raven rettferdighet?
I sin bok, Mind of the Raven , observerte biolog og ravneekspert Bernd Heinrich at ravner husker et individ som konsekvent plyndrer cachen deres hvis de tar ham på fersk gjerning. Noen ganger vil en ravn bli med i et angrep på en inntrenger selv om han ikke så cachen bli raidet.
Er dette moralsk? Heinrich ser ut til å mene det. Han sier om denne oppførselen: "Det var en moralsk ravn som søkte den menneskelige ekvivalenten til rettferdighet, fordi den forsvarte gruppens interesser til en potensiell kostnad for seg selv."
I påfølgende eksperimenter bekreftet Heinrich at gruppeinteresser kunne drive det en individuell ravn bestemmer seg for å gjøre. Ravner og mange andre dyr lever etter sosiale normer som favoriserer rettferdighet og rettferdighet.
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We who 'know' always knew the animal kindom were far more aware than the controlling factions wanted us to believe....we felt their suffering, we shared their love, we understood their unspoken language. God truly exists in all living things. Very nice article - thanks for sharing!
When I was 12 years old, my horse had a stroke and had to be put down. I looked out the window at his body, lifeless and lying in the corral. I watched as Socks, the matriarch of the barn cats, walked towards the body, followed by a single-file line of the other dozen-or-so kittens and cats. Watching from inside the house I thought, "Oh no, they're going to eat him." But I didn't interrupt. When the slow parade reached the body, the cats sat down about two feet away, in an arc, smelling and looking. After some time Socks stood up, turned around and walked back to the barn, followed in orderly procession by the others.
Even 30 years later I am touched by this memory.
This horse (Bourbon Jim was his name) had been a huge high-strung Thoroughbred, but he was gentle and considerate with the cats. Once when I came home from school I found three kittens on his back. I couldn't figure how they got up there. This kept happening until one day I saw: The little kittens, with their sharp little kitten claws, were climbing up his front legs and up over his sides to sit atop his back. Bourbon didn't even flinch.
[Hide Full Comment]Thank you for dispelling the myth we have all been told. Everything we do influences every living being. It is time we all kept ourselves conscious of this. Thank you so much!
About the same time we adopted the silver-grey kitten, Griffin, we also adopted a white rabbit, Angel. They were kit and kitten together and played all summer in the back yard. Angel was a house-rabbit. In the fall, I bunny-proofed my office for him, and put a baby-gate at the door, so he couldn't get to the rest of the house. Since I don't like the cold, Angel didn't get to go out much, but Griffin continued to play with him inside.
In the early spring, Griffin once showed up at the back door with a huge pile of leaves in his mouth, bigger than his head. He zipped right by me and took off down the hall toward my office. Griffin jumped over the gate and ran to the bunny. I was freaking out, thinking he had a mouse in his mouth along with all those leaves. But no, he just dumped the leaves on the floor in front of Angel. No mouse, thankfully. Then Griffin waited for Angel to react. I think the bunny was as confused as me. So Griffin rolled in the leaves, with his belly in the air. I could almost hear him saying: "Since you couldn’t come outside with me, I brought spring in to you." And Angel jumped in the leaves with him.
[Hide Full Comment]How lovely. Animals are the best of teachers. They live lovingly and ask so little in return. Surely there are animals in heaven. Would it be heaven if there were no animals? Perhaps all beings who are loved, animal and human with join after this life on planet earth is complete for for a magnificent heavenly reunion, and we will continue our work and play in the presence of the great I AM.
Yes Animals are intelligent and have emotional lives but that does not mean I have to love all dogs or all other animals. Some of them are simply unlovable, just like some humans. The pitbulls who killed the six year old boy coming back from school in switzerland were certainly not lovable.
It is only the arrogant among us who claim a special status for our own, based on such superficial considerations as ethnicity, culture, color of skin, gender or having a human body.
The compassionate have always known that we are all children of the same source. We are unique and different in many ways but that does not make us superior than others.
We need no scientific research to tell us this fundamental truth.
AN EXCELLENT AND VERY KNOWLEDGABLE ARTICLE WHICH HAS INDEED CHANGED THE WAY OF THINKING ABOUT ANIMALS
EDWARD
DELHI (INDIA)
I always said animals are way better then humans! Loyality, unconditional love and they never intentionally break our hearts. God sent them here so would we know good.
where are the citations/references for the scientific research?
Yes, I agree with the comment of Womanswork below: as someone who spends the majority of their time with eight companion animals, including a parrot, I can attest to the fact that they exhibit feelings of joy, sadness, insecurity, jealousy and envy, among a range of other emotions. And the best thing is, they don't hide these feelings; they're writ large for all to see, if in fact one is willing to see...it's so much better than the emotional dissembling of humans.
Oh my, if only animals could use "words" and tell us more ......perhaps then we would listen....we dont seem to hear their needs at all by their body language etc....How "dumb" are we humans really, when we dont treat our fellow creatures with more respect , love and appreciation,
I have watched my grandsons dalmation watch my grandsons shadow to see "where" he is going to throw the ball that he is hiding behind his back....I tested him 3 times couldnt believe his intelligence , how pathetic of me!!!!!!
How DO we get people to understand this about animals? I do not know. thank you for sharing all this wonderful information.....
Finally, Science is catching up to what I and many others have known forever! To think animals don't feel or think is the height of elitism
When I take my morning walks and observe nature I often think we are at the bottom of the chain. I am in awe of trees. The are so present they no longer need to move. They feed themselves from above and below and in the fall the leaves they shed create more nutrients for themselves and others.