Do Animals Mourn?

Ayaka Christine Oyama

David Zapata
Erik Manzano

Barbara King
Professor of anthropology at
College of William and Mary
one of the leaders in a
growing research group

 Author of the book

How Animals Grieve
her research revealed
that animals/humans
have deeper emotional
relationships than
previously thought

The beasts, it seems, are

suffering-and in ways we
recognize well.

Methods of Mourning
watch burial,
stunned by
emotion
carry dead
children in
arms for

weeks

Elephants
visit the body for a

week after death

rock the body
examine/cares
s bones in travels

Crows
mob the deceased flock
mate
cover it in grass and

twigs = tribute
in silence
similar to our own
rituals/ceremonies

Cats and Rabbits

both search for their
deceased

companions
weeks of tragic sweeps
at known locations
cats let out a special
grieving cry

Hormone and Brain Studies

Baboons in Botswana
Fecal samples
collected from those:
who witnessed the
death
who were close
friends
Tested levels of
glucocorticoid (GC)

Hormone and Brain Studies

Results of GC levels:
close friends > witnesses
High levels of GC may
cause them to mourn their
loss through a curative
gathering

John Marzluff
Professor of Wildlife
Science at the University
of Washington
Currently studies the
effects of forest
fragmentation and
urbanization on several
bird species on the
Washington Coast.

Marzluffs Crow Experiment

-Tested activity of the hippocampus and
amygdala
3 Masks:
highest amygdala
activity = the scary
mask.

Taxidermied Crow:
Showed increase of
hippocampus activity.
DANGER!!!

DO

Animals are social creatures

just like we are. They form
relationships that for them
can appear to be every bit
as important as ours are to
us, which means at some
point they must experience
the end of them.

BUT, Do They Really Mourn?

Bonobo: Carrying Their Dead

Baby

VS.

To hold and to care

for their dead baby

To avoid ruining their

status as
females/mothers

Crows: Mobbing a
Corpse
VS.

To pay respects

To identify what
killed it

Dogs and Cats: Unsettled behavior

VS.

To search for their

deceased companion

To adjust itself with a new

routine & to stake out
territory

Marc Bekof
A former Professor of
Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology at
University of Colorado,
Boulder
Main areas of research:
o animal behavior
o cognitive ethology
(animal minds)
o behavioral ecology
o etc.

"Human beings have

fixed ideas about the
hearts and minds of
beasts, most of them are
not flattering. Animals
are simpletons on the
whole, sometimes
capable of impressive
flashes of cleverness and
a kind of wagging,
nuzzling, tongue-lolling
love."

If this wasnt a sign of grief , then what is?

Quotes
The beasts, it seems, are suffering-and in ways we
recognize well.
Animals are social creatures just like we are. They form
relationships that for them can appear to be every bit as
important as ours are to us, which means at some point
they must experience the end of them.
Human beings have fixed ideas about the hearts and
minds of beasts, most of them are not flattering.Animals
are simpletons on the whole, sometimes capable of
impressive flashes of cleverness and a kind of wagging,
nuzzling, tongue-lolling love."