Recently, I watched a series called zoo, an American drama series that centers on animals attacking humans. The reason for the violent animal attacks
was to retaliate from humans’ unfairness towards them over them. In this
fiction, we see animals being very hostile towards humans and even killing
their former caregivers. Despite the story being very fictitious, I could not
help but wonder if the animals really couldn’t tell a difference between the
animal-loving humans and the animal-degrading humans such
as trophy hunters and bush meat poachers. Can animals really love?
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Some people argue that animals cannot love because they have smaller
brains. They relate emotion and intelligence to brain size. This is not true because the animals with the
biggest brains are the sperm whale and the elephants. In terms of ratio of
brain to body size, the shrew takes the cup here. This does not mean that the whale, elephant
and shrew have a greater capability of experiencing emotion. In fact, some
scientists argue that humans are not the most intelligent creatures because
other creatures such as cetaceans have brains with more cognitive features than
we humans do. So, if other animals have more advanced brains, does that not
mean that they can also experience attachment and feelings the way we do or
even greater?
I do not think we can deny that animals, like us, are empathetic
creatures. Elephants have been seen to
help each other, take out casts. In
Hungary, a two year old elephant lay over the body of his mother after she died
for 14 hours and mourned when they removed the body. Animals do feel for each
other. Hens have also been observed to fight when grouped together with strange
hens. Hens even kill each other. I think any animal capable of such hate is
capable of love. Hens is a funny example
tough because hens are one of the least intelligent animals.
In Kenya, there is the story of Tom and Owen. Tom was a hippo who loved
Owen, the tortoise too much. I particularly remember this story from more than
ten years ago because my younger sister even named her dolls after these
animals. The hippo was very distressed and was seen mopping after Owen escaped
the reserve. This is to show that animal not only feel attachment towards
themselves but other species. Perhaps a dog is the most common example. Dogs
are one of the most loving animals. They even mourn for the death of their
caregivers. I have a friend with a very friendly dog that doesn’t bite even
when you mess with it. The only time the dog has ever been agitated was when my
friend was threatened.
>>Read more on Human's Love towards animals
Gregory Berns, a neuroscientist studied the brain of dogs and found out
that the part of the brain associated with attachment, empathy and theory of mind
in animals is very active. Most humans assume that animals do not think at all
while dogs are seen to always be thinking of what humans could be thinking
about. This shows that their theory of mind is actually greater than ours.
Our emotions are not that different seeing as when cats are given serotonin
and dopamine, hormones associated with love and affection, they respond the
same. In the movie, Dawn of the Planet apes, there is a scene where we see
animals enjoying a bottle of drink. It all seems funny but animals actually do
enjoy alcohol which means it must have a similar effect on their brains and
moods. Ever since ten million years ago, primates, humans and apes included,
acquired the 40-fold, the ability to break down ethanol. Chimpanzees in the forests
of Bossou in Guinea have also been observed for 17 years enjoying a rich
alcoholic brew fermented from sugary sap. 1000 green vervet monkeys were also
given alcohol on experimental basis. They exhibited the same behavior as
humans do and some even became abusive drinkers due to addiction. Alcohol gave
them the same good feeling through release of opsoids that it gives us humans.
This is to show that our brain structure is very similar and that animals can
feel what we fell. In fact, 96% of our genetic makeup is similar to that of
apes.
You can breathe now. Your parrot thinks more of you than just its food
provider. In fact, parrots are one of the most intelligent animals but that’s a
story for another day.
By Tracy Wankio
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