How Animals Mourn Their Dead Mates - Coursework Example

Animals Mourning Their Dead Grieving or mourning is an expected response towards a loss of an important life witha family. Grieving occurs regardless of whether the death was sudden or it was a result of a prolonged illness. The mourning experience leads to both emotional and physical trauma since the bereaved parties intend to adapt to live upheaval brought by the loss of live. Psychologists recognize grieving as a long suffering process which results from the death of an individual in human society as well as in animal one (Anderson and Anderson 231). When it comes to humans, they suffer from the deaths of their loved ones as well as they do when their pets dies. Surprisingly, animals also suffer from the deaths of their loved ones (that might be the owner or a fellow animal) (Heilman 27). For animals, the death of their individual is equal to the loss of a non-judgmental love in the family. Therefore, the death of an animal from one loving family of the same individuals brings the sense of loneliness: the nature takes its course in which bereaved entities loose the contact with the natural world (Walter and McCoyd 42). Animals, including dogs, elephants, bears, chimpanzees, and dolphins among others, often express the same feelings and emotions following the death of their mates, youngsters, and members of the clans as well as their owners in case of pets. Owner Mourning a Pet Grieving process of human beings is never a cut and dried process that can be divided into strict categories. However, the human grieving process may be considered as a continuum where everybody has a different experience or ways of expressing the grieving experience. Therefore, dividing the mourning experience into stages helps the mourning person to understand these emotions as a normal occurrence (Bekoff, “Grief in animals”). Some people often get quickly over some of these stages or through the whole mourning process while others may stick in the phase for a longer period. Some of the morning stages include shock and denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (Longman, Ryken, and Wilhoit 84). Shock and denial is the stage on which the bereaved does not accept the reality affected by the death of his or her loved one. In this stage, a person often feels bewildered and stunned by the death, perceiving everything as unreal. After the moment of denial, the moment of anger strikes in and a person lashes out at his or her friends, family, veterinarians, God, and the entire world. Sometimes this stage leads to fear or guilt in one’s experience (Bender, “10 Heartbreaking…”). After some times of denial, the bereaved gets into the bargaining stage where he or she asks for a reward or deal with the veterinarians, the Clergy, or God (Lorenzi 126). However, this behavior can never be observed within animal communities. In fact, nobody knows whether animals have spiritual believes (Walter and McLoyd 221). Thus, this stage is realistic for the humans but can never be observed in the animals. After a series of bargaining, the bereaved persons advance to the depression stage. This is a reaction to the change in ways of life brought about by the loss of a pet. Here, the bereaved people feel intensely hopeless, sad, helpless, and drained following the loss of the loved one (Birchenall and Mary 87). Some parts of such experience are real for the animals as well. After a period of depression, the person accepts the reality of the death. The acceptance leads the person to a new and stable lifestyle. Human beings mourn and have the same mourning experience for the fellow human beings (Walter and. McLoyd 88). Nonetheless, the intensity and the depth of the grieving process depend on numerous factors. Some of the significant factors defining the length of the morning period of pets include the age of the owner and circumstances, which led to the death (Moorey 01). Moreover, the relationship between the pet and the owner or other family members also affects the experienced mourning. In some cases the relationship between the pet and the owner influences the ways the dead pet is handled. In the majority of cases children recover quicker from death experiences than old people. Mourning of Dogs The bond between dogs and human beings is as strong as the canines feel it. Numerous research works have indicated that dogs feel a particular grief at the death of the owner. Most pets will react to the departure of their owner by absence of sleep, lack of appetite, and lethargic condition (Bekoff and Goodall 25). In some cases, dogs never accept the death of their owners, just like the owner often refuses to accept the death of his or her pet. This is particularly vivid in cases when the dog lies at the owner’s grave. For example, dog Hawkey refused to accept the death of its owner who had served in the Navy SEAL. The dog left the side of the coffin only when the owner was buried (Bender, “10 Heartbreaking…”). Mourning of Bears Like other animals, bears often grieve for the death of their loved ones or the death of their close family members and friends. The ways of expressing the emotional grieves vary from species to species. For instance, a cat will protest angrily if served with wrong food during its grieving period. In addition, a dog will stand at the door dejectedly when left behind alone during its morning period. At the Central Park Zoo in New York, the grieving habits of animals have been an issue of interest for the zookeepers (Bekoff, “Grief in animals”). According to the New York Times reports, the death of a 25-year-old polar bear Ida, which had been euthanized because of liver disease, strongly affected her 24-year-old partner, Gus. According to the report, in 1994 Gus responded by swimming endless laps within his enclosure. The officials of the zoo believed that this was an expression of depression and stress. The report says that the swimming stopped when Gus was cross-examined by the animal therapist, who made Gus occupied with toys and got him to cut back on swimming. However, after Ida has death Gus spent the whole day swimming with sticks and toys untouched. According to the zoo attendants, the bear was adequate, but his behavior still was a vivid demonstration of the fact that animals often mourn the death of their loved ones. Mourning of Elephants As it has already been demonstrated above, various kinds of animals, have different ways of morning. Numerous studies focusing on the research of elephants’ grieving have been conducted. On November 4, 2005, a group of elephants was spotted paying homage to the bones of a dead elephant (Kamerman 01). They touched the skulls and tusks gently with their feet and trunks. This was the best way these elephants were showing empathy to their dead one. The fact of doing homage to the deceased is a clear evidence of elephant mourning the loss (Bekoff, “Grief in animals”). Furthermore, Kenya’s Amboseli National Park study also revealed these unusual behaviors within the families of the elephants. In each of the study tests, the animals were presented with three different sets of objects. The objects were distributed systematically about at least 25 meters from the nearest elephant. The reactions of elephants were then recorded using a camera located within those zones (Bekoff and Goodall 31). Nineteen different families of elephants formed the first group. These families were presented with a skull of a dead elephant, a piece of wood, and piece of ivory (Muns, “Grief, and Pet Loss”). The observations showed that the elephants expressed strong affection and preference for the piece of ivory and the skull to the piece of wood. The elephants placed their feet on the piece of ivory and knocked it gently back and forth. In another set seventeen families of elephants were presented with skulls of a rhinoceros, a buffalo, and an elephant. From the recorded observations, the elephant skull drew a significant attention in comparison to the other skulls, irrespective of their positions in the array (Bender, “10 Heartbreaking…”). It is unknown how elephants distinct clearly the remains of the fellow elephants despite the elimination of tusks off those skulls. The research concluded that the elephants have a strong interest to bones, ivory, and skulls of the elephant species, especially to those who have died within their own home range (Bekoff, “Grief in animals”). However, the study cannot confirm the hypothesis that elephants visit the bones of their close relatives only. Therefore, elephants mourn any other elephant the same way, regardless family bonds and the time elapsed (Bender, “10 Heartbreaking…”). Mourning of Dolphins Despite the mourning and grieving experience, that animals undergo following the death of their counterparts, some of the animals accompany such grieves with rituals just like human beings (LaVere 172). These rituals help in seeing these animals through their tough times. Aquatic animals, especially mammals, are known to be playful and have a wide range of emotions (Bekoff, “Grief in animals”). However, dolphins have detrimental times those last days when they lose their loved ones. Numerous research works have indicated that dolphins have hard times accepting the death of their mates. When an infant dies, the mother dolphin will stay with the deceased infant for days. This also happens if a pod member dies (Bender, “10 Heartbreaking…”). The studies have been highlighted in numerous films where a devastated mother dolphin was captured with the deceased baby: she held it above the water and later took it into the deeper parts of the sea where she spent the day with her dead infant. Mourning of Chimpanzees Chimpanzees also express their deep sorrows to the death of their mates. It is notable that chimpanzees have close genetics to human beings; therefore, they also get some of the human faults. They are known to be distressed following the death of relatives (Bekoff, “Grief in animals”). Chimpanzees often cry, refuse to eat and even mope. In some cases, they separate themselves during the mourning period. For instance, in the case captured in the picture below, Dorothy, an older chimpanzee died and was to be taken away from the rescue center (Bekoff and Goodall 131). All other chimpanzees at the center gathered seemingly to pay their last respect and say goodbye to their mate as they were watching her body leaving. Like human beings, the chimpanzees had to live with the reality: they will never be together with their departed friends. In accepting reality, the chimpanzees often alienate in order to come in touch with the loneliness brought about the loss of a friend or a family member (Bender, “10 Heartbreaking…”). Apparently, as the above introduced studies show, both animals and human beings grieve the death of species individuals and counterparts. However, animals react on death and express their grief differently accepting the fact that one of them has gone forever. Some of them share the grieving techniques with humans who tend to remain beside their deceased even in death. The dolphin mother had demonstrated the same reaction when it remained by the side of its infant baby for several days. The dog grieved about its owner by remaining by the coffin until the owner’s burial. Furthermore, the chimpanzees gathered by their dead friend as she was being prepared to be taken away from them (Harvey 92). For the animals, just like for human beings, gathering near the deceased is a clear indication of the lack of the death acceptance. After some time every animal must accept the reality, which follows the death of their friends or family members. Humans accept their new lifestyle and the fact that the person is missing. Chimpanzees get into this by separating themselves from the others and getting the sense of loneliness caused by the death of their mate. When it comes to humans, they often praise the memory of ones who died; they even do homage to their pets. In the same spirit, elephants often pay respect to their dead friends or relatives whenever they find their remains (Anderson, and Linda Anderson 49). Therefore, it is certain that animal, just like humans, mourn, or grieve at the death of their loved ones though the ways they do it differ (Muns 01). Nonetheless, some of them share grieving techniques with people: for instance, both chimpanzees and humans cry while mourning the death of their species. Works Cited Anderson, Allen, and Linda C. Anderson. Saying Goodbye to Your Angel Animals: Finding Comfort After Losing Your Pet. Novato, Calif: New World Library, 2008. Print. Bekoff, Marc, and Jane Goodall. The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy - and Why They Matter. Novato, Calif: New World Library, 2008. Print. Bekoff, Marc. “Animal Emotions: Grief in animals: Its arrogant to think were the only animals who mourn.” Psychology Today. Psychology today, 29 Oct. 2009. 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Press, 2004. Print. Longman, Tremper, Leland Ryken, and Jim Wilhoit. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. USA: InterVarsity Press, 2005. Print. Lorenzi, Rossella. “Elephants Mourn Their Dead.” Animal Planet. Discovery Communications, 4 Nov. 2005. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. . Moorey, James. Living with Grief and Mourning. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995. Print. Muns, Margaret. “Grief And Pet Loss.” n. p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. . National Geographic Kids Almanac 2010. Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2009. Print. Stets, Jan E, and Jonathan H. Turner. Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions. New York, NY: Springer, 2007. Print. Walter, Carolyn A, and Judith L. M. McLoyd. Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan: A Biopsychosocial Perspective. New York, NY: Springer, 2009. Print. Read More