Grief and love in the animal kingdom
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0:00 - 0:05I'd like to tell you today
about an orca named Tahlequah. -
0:05 - 0:09Tahlequah is also known
as J35 to scientists, -
0:09 - 0:13because she swims with the J Pod
in the Salish Sea. -
0:13 - 0:16These are the waters off of
British Columbia and Washington State. -
0:17 - 0:20Now, last year, in July 2018,
-
0:20 - 0:24she was well along
in her 17-month pregnancy, -
0:24 - 0:26and scientists were very excited
-
0:26 - 0:32because no baby had survived
in this pod for three long years. -
0:32 - 0:35Now, orcas are also
known as killer whales. -
0:35 - 0:40They're profoundly social
and profoundly intelligent beings. -
0:40 - 0:44And scientists are very interested
in their behavior, -
0:44 - 0:48because in their social networks,
they share habits, information -
0:48 - 0:49and even affection.
-
0:49 - 0:52They create true cultures of the ocean.
-
0:53 - 0:55But this pod has been in trouble.
-
0:56 - 1:01The Chinook salmon that the orcas favor
has been way down in the region, -
1:01 - 1:03and pollution has been up.
-
1:03 - 1:09But on July 24th, Tahlequah
gave birth to a daughter, -
1:09 - 1:12and scientists were so excited
by this development. -
1:13 - 1:17But unfortunately, the same day --
in fact, shortly after birth -- -
1:17 - 1:18the calf died.
-
1:19 - 1:22Well, what happened next
electrified animal lovers -
1:22 - 1:24across the world,
-
1:24 - 1:28because Tahlequah refused
to let her baby slip off into the water. -
1:28 - 1:32She kept it on her body
and she swam with it. -
1:32 - 1:36If it did fall off,
she would dive and rescue it, -
1:36 - 1:39and she battled stiff currents to do this.
-
1:39 - 1:41Now, she kept this behavior up
-
1:41 - 1:44for 17 days,
-
1:44 - 1:47and during this time,
she swam over 1,000 miles. -
1:48 - 1:52At that point, she let the little baby
slip off into the water. -
1:53 - 1:57So today, Tahlequah
swims on with the J Pod, -
1:57 - 2:01but her grief still moves me.
-
2:01 - 2:04And I do believe that "grief"
is the right word to use. -
2:04 - 2:07I believe that grief
is the right word to use -
2:07 - 2:10for numerous animals who mourn the dead.
-
2:10 - 2:13They may be friends or mates or relatives.
-
2:13 - 2:16Because these visible cues,
these behavioral cues, -
2:16 - 2:20tell us something about
an animal's emotional state. -
2:21 - 2:22Now, for the last seven years,
-
2:22 - 2:26I've been working to document
examples of animal grief -- -
2:26 - 2:28in birds, in mammals,
-
2:28 - 2:31in domesticated animals
and in wild animals -- -
2:31 - 2:34and I believe in the reality
of animal grief. -
2:35 - 2:36Now, I say it this way
-
2:36 - 2:39because I need to acknowledge
to you right up front -
2:39 - 2:41that not all scientists agree with me.
-
2:41 - 2:43And part of the reason, I think,
-
2:43 - 2:46is because of what I call the "a-word."
-
2:47 - 2:48The a-word is anthropomorphism,
-
2:48 - 2:50and historically,
it's been a big deterrent -
2:50 - 2:53to recognizing animal emotions.
-
2:53 - 2:57So, anthropomorphism is when
we project onto other animals -
2:57 - 3:00our capacities or our emotions.
-
3:01 - 3:04And we can all probably
think of examples of this. -
3:04 - 3:07Let's say we have a friend who tells us,
-
3:07 - 3:10"My cat understands everything I say."
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3:10 - 3:13Or, "My dog, he's so sweet.
-
3:13 - 3:16he ran right across the yard this morning
towards a squirrel, -
3:16 - 3:18and I know he just wants to play."
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3:18 - 3:20Well, maybe.
-
3:21 - 3:22Or maybe not.
-
3:22 - 3:24I'm skeptical about claims like those.
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3:25 - 3:27But animal grief is different,
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3:27 - 3:30because we're not trying
to read an animal's mind. -
3:30 - 3:33We're looking at visible cues of behavior
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3:33 - 3:35and trying to interpret them
with some meaning. -
3:35 - 3:38Now, it's true -- scientists
often push back at me, -
3:38 - 3:39and they'll say,
-
3:39 - 3:42"Ah, look, the animal might be stressed,
-
3:42 - 3:44or maybe the animal's just confused
-
3:44 - 3:46because his or her routine
has been disrupted." -
3:47 - 3:51But I think that this overworry
about anthropomorphism -
3:51 - 3:54misses a fundamental point.
-
3:54 - 3:58And that is that animals
can care very deeply for each other, -
3:58 - 3:59maybe they even love each other.
-
3:59 - 4:01And when they do,
-
4:01 - 4:04a survivor's heart
can be pierced by a death. -
4:05 - 4:06Let's face it:
-
4:06 - 4:09if we deny evolutionary continuity,
-
4:09 - 4:13we are really missing out
on embracing part of ourselves. -
4:14 - 4:16So yes, I believe in the reality
of animal grief, -
4:16 - 4:19and I also think that if we recognize it,
-
4:19 - 4:21we can make the world
a better place for animals, -
4:21 - 4:24a kinder place for animals.
-
4:24 - 4:27So let me tell you a little bit more
about animal grief. -
4:28 - 4:31I'm going to start in Kenya.
-
4:31 - 4:34You see here there's
an elephant named Eleanor -
4:34 - 4:37who came one day with bruised legs,
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4:37 - 4:39and she collapsed.
-
4:39 - 4:40You see on the left
-
4:40 - 4:44that another female named Grace
came to her right away -
4:44 - 4:46and, using her own trunk, propped her up,
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4:46 - 4:48tried to get her up on her feet.
-
4:48 - 4:49And she did succeed,
-
4:49 - 4:52but then Eleanor collapsed again.
-
4:52 - 4:56At this point, Grace became
visibly distressed, -
4:56 - 4:59and she prodded the body,
and she vocalized. -
5:00 - 5:01Eleanor collapsed again,
-
5:01 - 5:04and unfortunately, she did die.
-
5:04 - 5:09What you see on the right is a female
from another family named Maui, -
5:09 - 5:12who came after the death,
and she stayed at the body. -
5:12 - 5:15She held a vigil there,
and she even rocked in distress -
5:15 - 5:17over the body.
-
5:17 - 5:19So the scientists watching the elephants
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5:19 - 5:23kept close observation on Eleanor's body
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5:23 - 5:24for seven days.
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5:24 - 5:26And during those seven days,
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5:26 - 5:28a parade of elephants came
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5:28 - 5:30from five different families.
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5:30 - 5:32Now, some were just curious,
-
5:32 - 5:34but others carried out behaviors
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5:34 - 5:37that I really believe
should be classified as grief. -
5:38 - 5:40So what does grief look like?
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5:41 - 5:44It can be rocking, as I said, in distress.
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5:44 - 5:46It can also be social withdrawal,
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5:46 - 5:50when an animal just takes
himself or herself away from friends -
5:50 - 5:53and stays by themselves,
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5:53 - 5:55or a failure to eat or sleep properly,
-
5:55 - 5:59sometimes a depressed posture
or vocalization. -
5:59 - 6:02It can be very helpful
for those of us studying this -
6:02 - 6:07to be able to compare the behavior
of a survivor before death -
6:07 - 6:08and after death,
-
6:08 - 6:11because that increases the rigor
of our interpretation. -
6:12 - 6:13And I can explain this to you
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6:13 - 6:18by talking about two ducks
named Harper and Kohl. -
6:18 - 6:20So we're into birds now.
-
6:20 - 6:24So Harper and Kohl were raised
at a foie gras factory, -
6:24 - 6:26and they were treated cruelly.
-
6:26 - 6:29Foie gras does involve
force-feeding of birds. -
6:29 - 6:33So this hurt their bodies, and their
spirits were not in good shape, either. -
6:33 - 6:37But thankfully, they were rescued
by a farm sanctuary in upstate New York. -
6:37 - 6:41And for four years, they stabilized,
and they were fast friends. -
6:41 - 6:45They often took themselves
to a small pond on the property. -
6:46 - 6:50Then, Kohl started to have
really intractable pain in his legs, -
6:50 - 6:54and it was clear to the sanctuary
that he had to be euthanized humanely, -
6:54 - 6:55and he was.
-
6:55 - 6:58But then the sanctuary workers
did a brilliant thing, -
6:58 - 7:02because they brought Harper
to the body to see. -
7:02 - 7:05And at first, Harper prodded
the body of his friend, -
7:05 - 7:08but then he laid himself over it,
-
7:08 - 7:11and he stayed there
for over an hour with his friend. -
7:12 - 7:15And in the weeks after,
-
7:15 - 7:17he had a hard time.
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7:17 - 7:20He would go back to that same pond
where he had been with Kohl, -
7:20 - 7:22and he didn't want any other friends.
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7:23 - 7:25And within two months, he died as well.
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7:26 - 7:28Now, I'm happy to say
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7:28 - 7:31that not all grieving animals
have this sorrowful outcome. -
7:31 - 7:36Last summer, I flew to Boston
to visit my adult daughter, Sarah. -
7:36 - 7:38I was with my husband Charlie.
-
7:38 - 7:41I really needed a break from work.
-
7:42 - 7:45But I succumbed,
and I checked my work email. -
7:45 - 7:46You know how that is.
-
7:46 - 7:51And there was a communication
about a dejected donkey. -
7:51 - 7:54Now, as an anthropologist,
this wasn't what I expected, -
7:54 - 7:56but there it was, and I'm glad I read it.
-
7:56 - 8:00Because a donkey named Lena
had gone to another farm sanctuary, -
8:00 - 8:02this one in Alberta, Canada,
-
8:02 - 8:04as the only donkey there,
-
8:05 - 8:08and had trouble making friends
for that reason. -
8:08 - 8:11But she eventually did make friends
with an older horse named Jake, -
8:11 - 8:14and for three years they were inseparable.
-
8:14 - 8:18But the reason the email came
was that Jake, at age 32, the horse, -
8:18 - 8:21had become gravely ill
and had to be put down, -
8:22 - 8:25and this is what was going on.
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8:25 - 8:27This is Lena standing on Jake's grave.
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8:27 - 8:31She didn't want to come in at night.
She didn't want to come in for food. -
8:31 - 8:33She didn't want to come in for water.
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8:33 - 8:36She pawed at the grave,
she brayed in distress, -
8:36 - 8:38and there she stood.
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8:38 - 8:41So we talked and we brainstormed.
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8:41 - 8:43What do you do for an animal like this?
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8:43 - 8:45And we talked about the role of time,
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8:46 - 8:48of extra love and kindness from people
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8:48 - 8:51and of urging her to make a new friend.
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8:51 - 8:56And here's where her trajectory does
diverge from that of Harper the duck, -
8:56 - 8:58because she did make a new friend,
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8:58 - 9:01and sanctuary workers wrote back
and said it worked out well. -
9:02 - 9:05Now sometimes, scientists
supplement observation -
9:06 - 9:07with hormonal analysis.
-
9:08 - 9:11There's an example of a group
of scientists in Botswana, -
9:11 - 9:15who took fecal material from baboons
and compared two different groups. -
9:15 - 9:20The first group were females
who had witnessed a predator attack -
9:20 - 9:22and lost someone in that attack,
-
9:22 - 9:25and the second group were females
who had witnessed an attack -
9:25 - 9:27but had not lost someone.
-
9:27 - 9:29And the stress hormones
were way up in that first group. -
9:30 - 9:31But here's the thing:
-
9:31 - 9:34the scientists didn't just
call them "stressed baboons," -
9:34 - 9:36they called them "bereaved baboons,"
-
9:36 - 9:40and in part, that's because
of the observations that they made. -
9:40 - 9:43For example, this mother-daughter
pair were very close, -
9:43 - 9:45and then the daughter
was killed by a lion. -
9:46 - 9:49The mother removed herself
from all her friends, -
9:49 - 9:52from her grooming networks,
and just stayed by herself for weeks -- -
9:53 - 9:55bereavement --
-
9:55 - 9:57and she then slowly recovered.
-
9:59 - 10:02So we have bereaved baboons.
-
10:02 - 10:06Will science tell us someday
about bereaved bees? -
10:06 - 10:09Will we hear about frogs who mourn?
-
10:09 - 10:13I don't think so, and I think the reason
is because animals really need -
10:13 - 10:16one-to-one, close relationships
for that to happen. -
10:17 - 10:21I also know that circumstance matters,
and personality matters. -
10:21 - 10:24I have documented
cats and dogs who grieve, -
10:24 - 10:26our companion animals,
-
10:26 - 10:29but I also interacted with a woman
who was extremely bothered -
10:29 - 10:31because her dog wasn't grieving.
-
10:32 - 10:35She said to me, "The first dog
in the house has died. -
10:35 - 10:38The second animal does not
seem concerned, the second dog. -
10:38 - 10:40What is wrong with him?"
-
10:40 - 10:41(Laughter)
-
10:41 - 10:43And as I listened to her,
-
10:43 - 10:47I realized that this dog was now
the only animal in the household, -
10:47 - 10:50and as far as he was concerned,
that was a pretty good deal. -
10:51 - 10:53So circumstances matter.
-
10:55 - 10:57Now, in any case, animals
are not going to grieve -
10:57 - 10:59exactly like we do.
-
10:59 - 11:01We have human creativity.
-
11:01 - 11:05We paint our grief, dance our grief,
-
11:05 - 11:07write our grief.
-
11:07 - 11:09We also can grieve for people
we've never met, -
11:09 - 11:12across space and time.
-
11:12 - 11:14I felt this strongly when I went to Berlin
-
11:14 - 11:17and I stood at the Holocaust Memorial.
-
11:17 - 11:20Animals don't grieve exactly like we do,
-
11:20 - 11:23but this doesn't mean
that their grief isn't real. -
11:23 - 11:26It is real, and it's searing,
-
11:26 - 11:28and we can see it if we choose.
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11:29 - 11:32Now, I've lost both my parents.
-
11:32 - 11:36I lost a very dear friend
at a young age from AIDS. -
11:36 - 11:41I believe most likely most of you
here have lost someone. -
11:41 - 11:44And I have found it a genuine comfort,
-
11:44 - 11:49a solace, to know that we aren't
the only beings on this earth -
11:49 - 11:51who feel love and grief.
-
11:52 - 11:54And I think this is important.
-
11:54 - 11:57I also think we can take
this a step further, -
11:57 - 11:59and we can realize
that the reality of animal grief -
11:59 - 12:03can help us be better
and do better for animals. -
12:03 - 12:06This is already happening with Tahlequah,
-
12:06 - 12:11because the United States and Canada have
renewed their talks with greater urgency -
12:11 - 12:12for how to help the orcas,
-
12:13 - 12:15how to restore the Chinook salmon
-
12:15 - 12:17and how to help with the water pollution.
-
12:17 - 12:20We can also see that if grief is real,
-
12:20 - 12:22there's tremendous
plausibility to the notion -
12:22 - 12:25that animals feel a whole range of things.
-
12:26 - 12:30So we could look at joy,
sadness, even hope. -
12:30 - 12:32And if we do that,
-
12:32 - 12:35here's how we can start
to think about the world. -
12:35 - 12:37We can look at orcas and say,
-
12:37 - 12:40we know they grieve,
we know they feel their lives, -
12:40 - 12:45and we can refuse to confine them
to small tanks in theme parks -
12:45 - 12:48and make them perform
for our entertainment. -
12:48 - 12:50(Applause)
-
12:51 - 12:53Thank you.
-
12:53 - 12:56We can look at elephants
and say, yes, they grieve, -
12:56 - 13:00and we can renew our efforts
against international trophy hunting -
13:00 - 13:01and against poaching.
-
13:01 - 13:03(Applause)
-
13:03 - 13:05Thank you.
-
13:05 - 13:08And we can look at our closest
living relatives, monkeys and apes, -
13:08 - 13:11and know yes they grieve,
they feel their lives, -
13:11 - 13:14so they don't deserve to be confined
-
13:14 - 13:17in highly invasive biomedical experiments
-
13:17 - 13:19year after year.
-
13:19 - 13:21And, you know --
-
13:21 - 13:22(Applause)
-
13:22 - 13:25the ducks Harper and Kohl,
they tell us something too. -
13:25 - 13:29They help us connect the dots
and realize that what we eat -
13:29 - 13:31affects how animals live.
-
13:31 - 13:35And it's not just foie gras,
and it's not just ducks. -
13:35 - 13:40We can think about pigs and chickens
and cows in factory farms, -
13:40 - 13:41and we can know.
-
13:41 - 13:45I can tell you the science is real
that these animals feel, too. -
13:45 - 13:50So every single time
we choose a plant-based meal, -
13:50 - 13:54we are contributing
to reducing animal suffering. -
13:54 - 13:57(Applause)
-
13:57 - 14:02So yes, I believe in the reality
of animal grief. -
14:02 - 14:04I believe in the reality of animal love,
-
14:04 - 14:07and I think it is time for us humans
-
14:07 - 14:09to recognize that
we don't own these things. -
14:10 - 14:11And when we see that,
-
14:11 - 14:15we have an opportunity to make the world
so much better for animals, -
14:15 - 14:18a kinder world, a gentler world,
-
14:18 - 14:22and along the way, we might
just save ourselves, too. -
14:22 - 14:24Thank you so much.
-
14:24 - 14:25(Applause)
-
14:25 - 14:27Thank you. Thank you.
-
14:27 - 14:29(Applause)
- Title:
- Grief and love in the animal kingdom
- Speaker:
- Barbara J. King
- Description:
-
From mourning orcas to distressed elephants, biological anthropologist Barbara J. King has witnessed grief and love across the animal kingdom. In this eye-opening talk, she explains the evidence behind her belief that many animals experience complex emotions, and suggests ways all of us can treat them more ethically -- including every time we eat. "Animals don't grieve exactly like we do, but this doesn't mean that their grief isn't real," she says. "It is real, and it's searing, and we can see it if we choose."
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 14:42
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Grief and love in the animal kingdom | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Grief and love in the animal kingdom | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for Grief and love in the animal kingdom | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Grief and love in the animal kingdom | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for Grief and love in the animal kingdom | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Grief and love in the animal kingdom | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Grief and love in the animal kingdom | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for Grief and love in the animal kingdom |