Foto av Ginger Me
Pinsamhet är svår att observera. Per definition är det en känsla som man försöker dölja. Men den världsberömda primatologen Jane Goodall tror att hon har observerat vad som kan kallas pinsamhet hos schimpanser.
Fifi var en kvinnlig schimpans som Jane kände i mer än 40 år. När Fifis äldsta barn, Freud, var fem och ett halvt år gammal, var hans farbror, Fifis bror Figan, alfahanen i deras schimpanssamhälle. Freud följde alltid Figan som om han dyrkade den stora hanen.
En gång, när Fifi skötte Figan, klättrade Freud upp på den tunna stjälken på en vild groblad. När han nådde den lummiga kronan började han svaja vilt fram och tillbaka. Hade han varit ett människobarn hade vi sagt att han visade upp sig. Plötsligt brast stammen och Freud ramlade in i det långa gräset. Han blev inte skadad. Han landade nära Jane, och när hans huvud dök upp ur gräset såg hon honom titta på Figan. Hade han märkt det? Om han hade gjort det, brydde han sig inte om utan fortsatte att bli putsad. Freud klättrade mycket tyst upp i ett annat träd och började äta.
Psykologen Marc Hauser från Harvard University observerade vad som kan kallas förlägenhet hos en näsapa av hankön. Efter att ha parat sig med en hona, spankulerade hanen iväg och ramlade av misstag i ett dike. Han ställde sig upp och såg sig snabbt omkring. Efter att ha känt att inga andra apor såg honom ramla, marscherade han iväg, högt bakåt, med huvudet och svansen uppåt, som om ingenting hade hänt.
Animal Rescues: Känna medkänsla för de som behöver
Berättelser om djur som räddar medlemmar av sin egen och andra arter, inklusive människor, finns i överflöd. De visar hur individer av olika arter visar medkänsla och empati för de behövande.
I Torquay, Australien, efter att en kängurumamma blivit påkörd av en bil, upptäckte en hund en baby joey i hennes påse och tog den till sin ägare som tog hand om ynglingen. Den 10-åriga hunden och 4-månader gamla joey blev så småningom bästa vänner.
Foto av Flickker Photos
På en strand i Nya Zeeland kom en delfin till undsättning för två spermvalar som strandade bakom en sandbank. Efter att människor förgäves försökt få ut valarna på djupare vatten dök delfinen upp och de två valarna följde efter den tillbaka i havet.
Hundar är också kända för att hjälpa behövande. En förlorad pitbull-mutt bröt upp ett försök till rån av en kvinna som lämnade en lekplats med sin son i Port Charlotte, Florida. En djurkontrollant sa att det var uppenbart att hunden försökte försvara kvinnan, som han inte kände. Och utanför Buenos Aires, Argentina, räddade en hund en övergiven bebis genom att placera honom på ett säkert sätt bland sina egna nyfödda valpar. Otroligt nog bar hunden barnet cirka 150 fot till där hennes valpar låg efter att ha upptäckt barnet täckt av en trasa på ett fält.
Raven Rättvisa?
I sin bok, Mind of the Raven , observerade biologen och korpexperten Bernd Heinrich att korpar minns en individ som konsekvent plundrar sina cacher om de fångar honom på bar gärning. Ibland kommer en korp att gå med i en attack på en inkräktare även om han inte såg cachen plundras.
Är detta moraliskt? Heinrich verkar tro att det är det. Han säger om detta beteende, "Det var en moralisk korp som sökte den mänskliga motsvarigheten till rättvisa, eftersom den försvarade gruppens intressen till en potentiell kostnad för sig själv."
I efterföljande experiment bekräftade Heinrich att gruppintressen kan styra vad en enskild korp bestämmer sig för att göra. Korpar och många andra djur lever efter sociala normer som främjar rättvisa och rättvisa.
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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.