Can other animals understand death? - Barbara J. King

翻译人员: Skylar Cy 校对人员: suya f.

In 2018, an orca called Tahlequah gave birth.

在2018年，一头名叫塔勒夸的 逆戟鲸生了一个女儿

But her daughter died within an hour.

但女儿在一小时以内就去世了。

Tahlequah, however, didn’t leave her body.

但塔勒夸并没有离开她的尸体。

And over the next 17 days and 1,600 kilometers,

在接下来的 17 天 和 1600 公里的行程中，

she kept it afloat atop her own,

她将女儿的尸体放在 自己身上，让它浮起来，

diving to retrieve the body whenever it slipped away,

滑落时，她便下潜将其取回

even after it began deteriorating.

即便尸体开始腐烂后也是如此。

By altering her feeding and travel patterns,

塔勒夸改变了她的进食和移动的方式，

Tahlequah’s behavior was certainly unusual.

这种做法不同寻常。

But was she mourning— or just confused?

但她是在哀悼吗，或只是感到困惑？

Do non-human animals grieve?

人类之外的动物会感到悲痛吗？

This question is tricky.

这个问题令人挠头。

In 1871, Charles Darwin argued that other animals

1871年时，

查尔斯·达尔文辩称， 动物们能体会

experience a wide range of emotions, including grief.

各种各样的情绪，包括悲伤。

But, especially in the absence of a dependable bridge

但特别是在我们和动物的思想之间

between our minds and theirs,

缺少可靠桥梁的情况下，

many scientists have long been wary

许多科学家长期以来

of projecting human emotions onto other animals.

对将人类情绪投射 到其他动物上的做法保持警惕。

It’s also been thought that they might display irregular behaviors after a death

也有人认为，动物在同伴死亡后 表现的出非常规行为

for other adaptive reasons.

可能由于其他适应性原因。

And, for a while, the paradigm was that humans were exceptional:

有一段时间，以下范式是人类的独特性：

other animals were reacting and surviving,

其他动物会反应和生存，

while we alone were thinking and feeling.

只有我们才会思考和感受。

This conception was increasingly challenged during the 20th century.

在 20 世纪，这个概念 受到越来越多的挑战。

In 1985, for example, a gorilla called Koko,

比如在 1985 年， 一头会使用一些美国手语的

who'd been trained to use some signs from American Sign Language,

名叫可可的大猩猩

was told that her kitten companion had died.

被告知她的幼猫同伴去世了。

She made distress calls, and several weeks later,

可可发出了痛苦的号叫。

looking at a photo of another kitten signed “cry,” “sad,” and “frown.”

几周后，看着一张其它幼猫的照片，

她打了“哭”，“悲伤”， 和 “皱眉“ 的手势。

Now there’s a growing pool of data and observations

现在越来越多的数据和观察结果表明，

suggesting that some animals, including mammals and birds,

包括哺乳动物和鸟类在内的一些动物

might experience what we call grief.

可能会感受到我们所谓的悲伤。

In 2003, Eleanor, an elephant matriarch, collapsed.

2003 年，大象族长埃莉诺倒下了。

Within minutes, another matriarch called Grace neared and helped Eleanor stand,

几分钟内，一头叫 格蕾思的大象族长走近了，

并帮助埃莉诺站立

only for her to fall again.

但她又一次倒下。

Grace vocalized, stayed by Eleanor’s side, and tried pushing her back up.

格蕾思发出声音， 待在埃莉诺身边，尝试将她推起。

When Eleanor died, a female named Maui approached,

埃莉诺死后， 一头叫毛伊的母象走了过来，

positioned herself over Eleanor’s body, and rocked back and forth.

她将自己放在 埃莉诺的身体上，前后摇摆。

Over the course of one week,

在一周内，

elephants from five different families visited Eleanor’s body.

来自五个不同家族的大象们 拜访了埃莉诺的尸体。

On separate occasions,

在不同的场景中，研究者们观察到

elephants have been observed carrying the remains of family members,

大象们会带走家庭成员的部分遗骸，

including jawbones and tusks.

包括颌骨和长牙。

In 2010, a giraffe was born with a deformed foot and had trouble walking.

2010 年时，一个小长颈鹿出生了， 它的脚天生畸形，导致走路困难。

The calf lived just four weeks.

这个幼崽只存活了四周。

On the day the calf died, 22 other females and four juveniles

它去世的那一天， 22 个母长颈鹿和四个幼长颈鹿

closely attended and occasionally nuzzled the body.

紧紧的陪伴着并偶尔拱了拱尸体。

On the third morning, the mother was alone and still not eating,

第三天早上，

剩下母亲一个人， 她还是没有进食。

which giraffes usually do constantly.

Instead, she stayed by her dead calf, even after hyenas ate away at the body.

但即使在尸体被鬣狗吃掉后， 她也待在旁边。

Scientists have also begun quantitatively assessing other animals’

科学家也已经开始定量评估

responses to death.

动物们对死亡的反应。

In 2006, researchers analyzed baboon fecal samples for glucocorticoids,

2006年，研究人员分析了 狒狒粪便样品里的糖皮质激素含量，

stress hormones that spike when humans are bereaved.

当人类丧亲时， 这个压力激素达到峰值。

They compared the samples from females who had lost a close relative

他们比较了因捕食者袭击 而丧亲的母狒狒粪便样本

in a predator attack with those who hadn’t.

与没有丧亲的母狒狒粪便样本。

And they found that the glucocorticoid levels of baboons who had

他们发现，丧亲的狒狒的糖皮质激素水平

were significantly higher the month following the death.

在亲属死亡后的几个月内明显更高。

Those baboons then increased their grooming behavior

这些狒狒会更频繁的梳理毛发，

and the number of their grooming partners,

并增加其梳毛伙伴的数量，

broadening and strengthening their social networks.

扩大和加强它们的社交关系网。

Within two months, their glucocorticoid levels returned to the baseline.

在两个月内，它们的糖皮质 激素级返回基线。

Researchers have also observed primate mothers engaging in apparently

研究人员还观察到，灵长类动物母亲

contradictory behaviors while carrying their dead children.

在携带孩子尸体时会出现矛盾的行为，

Like switching between cannibalizing or dragging their child’s corpse

比如，他们在肢解或拖动孩子的尸体

and carefully carrying or grooming it,

和小心地携带或为其梳毛之间切换，

suggesting that the mothers were experiencing conflicting impulses

这表明母亲对尸体

towards the bodies.

有互相冲突的冲动反应。

Our current understanding of the emotional landscapes

我们目前对动物们情感表达的理解

of other animals is severely limited.

受到严重限制。

To get a better grasp on mourning in the animal kingdom,

为了更好地理解动物王国里哀悼的概念，

we need a lot more research.

我们需要进行更多的研究。

But where does this leave us for now?

但我们的理解现在暂时在哪里？

Conversations around whether non-human animals experience emotions, like grief,

关于非人类的动物会否 经历诸如悲伤此类的情绪的对话

can be emotional,

可能令人伤感，

in part because their outcomes have very real implications—

部分原因在于， 这些对话的结果有非常现实的意义--

like determining if orcas should be isolated and kept in captivity,

例如决定是否应隔离和囚禁逆戟鲸，

or whether dairy cows should be separated from their newborn calves.

或奶牛应不应该和她们新生的小牛分开。

Until we do have more data on the subject,

在我们有更多有关数据之前，

should we treat non-human animals like they may have the capacity to grieve?

对待非人类动物时，

我们是否应将它们当作具 有悲伤能力的动物来对待，

Or assume they don’t?

还是当作他们不具备这个能力？

Which belief could cause more harm?

哪种信念会造成更多伤害？