ANIMAL GRIEF
46 BBC Wildlife September 2020thenunceremoniouslycarriedawayand
discardedontoa refusepile.
Thus,it seemsantscandetectdeath.This
is enablednotbyfellow-feelinghowever,but
strongscentcues.A pheromonecalledoleic
acidis emittedbydeadants,andit is thisthat
theirkinareattendingto.Indeed,antsthat
arealiveandwellareescortedtothedump if
daubedinthisscent.
“Inthiscase,theant’sbehaviouris
triggeredbyonecuealone– odour.It will
mechanicallyperformthisundertaking
behaviourevenif thereis a liveant
presentingthisodour,ignoringallotherlife
cues,”explainscomparativethanatologist
AndréGonçalves.“It’sfairtosaytheanthas
noabstractconceptofdeath.”
Whilenobodyis suggestingthatantsfeel
sorrowfortheirlostbrethren,orthatthis
behaviouris motivatedbyanythingother
thansanitaryconcerns,it doessuggesthow,
ona basiclevel,animalscan discern the
livingfromthedead.Commonsenses
Attheotherendofthescale,humanshave
evolvedtouseallfivesenseswhengathering
information.“Thereis a constellationof
cuesthat,takentogether,informusif an
individualis dead,fromlackofmovement,
heartbeatandbreathing,togrievousinjuries,
lowtemperatureandodour,”explainsAndré.
“Havinglearnedthesethroughexperience,
humansacquireaninternalrepresentation
ofdeathseparatefromtheone-dimensional
sensoryinformationusedbyanimalssuch
asants.”
A similarconstellationofcuesis likely
to behowmanyotheranimalsstartto
distinguishthelivingfromthedead.They
knowthata companionnormallymoves,
breathesandis warm,aswellastheirsmell.
Whenananimaldetectsthischangefrom
animacyto inanimacy,howdotheyreact?
Fromcrows,to elephants,to monkeys,
animalshavebeenobservedto exhibita range
ofcuriousbehavioursinresponseto death.
BirdsoftheCorvidaefamily,whichincludes
crowsandmagpies,havebeenrecorded
gathering around the corpses of deceasedForexample,onemightarguethatthe
abilityto grieveashumansdomustbe
predicatedbyawarenessofone’smortality
andthatofothers.Inotherwords,to know
thatanindividualis indeeddead.
ForProfessorBarbaraKing,authorof
HowAnimalsGrieve, whobelievesanimals
arecapableofprofoundsadness,grief
andlove,thereis littleto begainedfrom
thislineofquestioning.“Myresearchis
predicatedonobservingvisiblebehaviours
andunderstandingthesurroundingcontext,
becausewecan’treadanimals’mindsor
understandtheirinnerthoughts.Whatwould
wehaveto observeto beableto knowabout
awarenessofmortality?”
It mightbeimpossibleto knowwhetheran
animalcanmuseontheirownmortality,but
wecanask,howdoanimalsdetectdeath?
Oneanimalthattreatsthedeaddifferently
to thelivingis thehumbleant.Storiesofants’
treatmentofthedeadgobackthousandsof
years.PlinytheElder(AD23–79)described
themas“theonlycreaturesbesidesmanto
burytheirdead”.
NaturalistE O Wilsonfurtherdescribed
thisbehaviourin1971,explaininghow
Pogonomyrmexbarbatusantsleaveworker
corpsesto decomposeintheopenairfora
few days before they are carefully investigated,“Afterthedeathofthefemale,whichtook
placeearlyinthemorning,theremainingone
mademanyattemptsto rouseher,andwhen
hefoundthisto beimpossiblehisrageand
griefwerepainfulto witness.”
In1879,naturalistArthurBrownrecorded
thisobservationafterthedeathofoneofa
pairofcloselybondedchimpanzeesat the
PhiladelphiaZoologicalGarden.Intheactions
ofthesurvivingmale– hairtearing,plaintive
criesandrepeatedeffortsto revivehis
companion– Brownrecognisedanintensity
ofsorrowakinto thatexhibitedbyhumans
afterthelossofa lovedone.
Thisis justoneanecdotethatappears
to demonstratecapacityforgriefinnon-
humans.Butcouldsuchdisplaysbethesame
ashumansexperience,oris therea less-
emotionalexplanation?
Awarenessofdeathandtheemotions
ofgriefwereoncethoughtto bedefining
humantraits,butlikesomanyother‘uniquely
human’attributes,suchastooluse,culture
andlanguage,thistoomightbeoverturned.
Forcenturies,animalshavebeenobserved
expressingapparentsorrowat thepassingof
a group-mate.Manyhavebeenourclosest
cousins,themonkeysandapes,butgrief-like
behaviourshavealsobeenreportedinwhales,
elephantsandevenmagpies.Suchreports
haveoftenbeendismissedasanecdotal
anthropomorphism,butthegrowingfieldof
comparativethanatology– thestudyofthe
cognitive,psychologicalandphysiological
aspectsofdeath– hasoflatepaidthemcloser
attention.Accumulatingreportsofintense
reactionsto deatharegivingscientistspause
forthought:mightanimalsgrieve, too?Beneaththesurface
Whatis griefandwhatdoesit looklike?
Thismayseemanobviousquestion,butthe
moreyouconsiderit,theknottierit becomes.
Griefconsistsofoutwardbehaviours,some
subtle,othersovert,butit is alsomadeupof
complexemotions,knowledgeandconcepts.
Withoutbeingabletopeerintothemindsof
animals,couldweevertrulyknowwhether
theiroutwardbehaviours correspond to
human-like feelings?Theentirefamily
ofadeceased
elephant
surroundedher
corpse,touching
herwiththeir
trunks,asif
trying to li her.
“A
Elephants: Charlie Summers/naturepl.com; zebra: Christophe Courteau/naturepl.com; gorilla: dpa picture alliance/Alamy