Can other animals understand death? - Barbara J. King

Translator: 立 闻 Reviewer: Thomas Tam

In 2018, an orca called Tahlequah gave birth.

喺 2018 年虎鲸 Tahlequah 生咗條幼鯨

But her daughter died within an hour.

不過佢個女 唔夠一個鐘就死咗

Tahlequah, however, didn’t leave her body.

但係 Tahlequah 並冇 離開小鯨嘅屍體

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

喺接下來嘅 17 日 1,600 公里嘅路程度

she kept it afloat atop her own,

佢一直令屍體 漂浮喺自己嘅身體上

diving to retrieve the body whenever it slipped away,

每當屍體漂走咗 佢就沉下去搵番

even after it began deteriorating.

即使屍體開始腐爛 都係噉做

By altering her feeding and travel patterns,

觀察到 Tahlequah 改變咗 進食同出行方式

Tahlequah’s behavior was certainly unusual.

行爲顯得唔正常

But was she mourning— or just confused?

但係佢喺度哀悼呀 定只係感到困惑呢？

Do non-human animals grieve?

人類以外嘅動物 會感到悲傷嗎？

This question is tricky.

呢個問題好難解答

In 1871, Charles Darwin argued that other animals

喺 1871 年 Charles Darwin 認爲

experience a wide range of emotions, including grief.

其他動物亦擁有 各種各樣嘅情感包括哀傷

But, especially in the absence of a dependable bridge

不過，特別係喺冇可靠嘅渠道

between our minds and theirs,

連接我哋同佢哋之間嘅心靈

many scientists have long been wary

好多科學家一直以來

of projecting human emotions onto other animals.

都對將人類嘅感情 投射到動物身上持謹慎態度

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

同時亦會認爲佢哋可能係 因爲其他適應性原因

所以喺面對死亡嗰陣 會做出反常舉動

for other adaptive reasons.

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

有段時間，人類認爲 自己係唔同啲嘅：

other animals were reacting and surviving,

其他動物只需作出反應 就能僥倖生存

while we alone were thinking and feeling.

而人類有個人嘅 思考同感受

This conception was increasingly challenged during the 20th century.

呢個概念喺 20 世紀嗰時 受到越來越多人嘅質疑

In 1985, for example, a gorilla called Koko,

喺 1985 年 有隻叫 Koko 嘅猩猩

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

受過一啲美國手語嘅訓練

was told that her kitten companion had died.

當話俾佢聽 佢嘅小貓好朋友死咗

幾個星期後佢望著 另外一隻小貓嘅相片

She made distress calls, and several weeks later,

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

發出悲慘嘅喊聲，用手語表達「哭」、 「傷心」同「愁眉苦臉。」

Now there’s a growing pool of data and observations

現在有越來越多 數據同觀察指出

suggesting that some animals, including mammals and birds,

包括哺乳類動物 同鳥類嘅一啲動物

might experience what we call grief.

可能感受到我哋所謂嘅悲傷

In 2003, Eleanor, an elephant matriarch, collapsed.

喺 2003 年，象群女領䄂 Eleanor 突然倒地

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

幾分鐘後，另一雙叫 Grace 嘅女領䄂 向 Eleanor 走近，幫助佢企起身

only for her to fall again.

不過佢又再次跌倒

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

Grace 留喺 Eleanor 身邊 同時發出聲音，亦試圖推佢企起身

當 Eleanor 死咗 一隻叫 Maui 嘅母象走近

When Eleanor died, a female named Maui approached,

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

將自己放喺 Eleanor 身體上來回搖動

Over the course of one week,

喺一個星期内

五隻唔同家族嘅大象 都嚟到 Eleanor 嘅屍體前面

elephants from five different families visited Eleanor’s body.

On separate occasions,

有時候

elephants have been observed carrying the remains of family members,

亦見到有大象 攜帶家族成員嘅遺骸

including jawbones and tusks.

包括顎骨同象牙

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

喺 2010 年，一隻長頸鹿出世 由於有隻脚變形，因而行動出現困難

The calf lived just four weeks.

小長頸鹿只生存咗四個星期

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

小長頸鹿死去嗰日 22 隻雌性長頸鹿同四隻小長頸鹿

closely attended and occasionally nuzzled the body.

密切關注，亦時不時 用鼻輕輕觸碰屍體

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

媽媽到第三日早晨 當時只得佢一個，仍然唔肯進食

which giraffes usually do constantly.

平時長頸鹿會不斷進食

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

即使鬣狗食小長頸鹿嘅屍體 媽媽都一直守喺佢嘅身邊

Scientists have also begun quantitatively assessing other animals’

科學家亦開始定量評估其他動物

responses to death.

對死亡嘅反應

In 2006, researchers analyzed baboon fecal samples for glucocorticoids,

2006 年研究人員分析狒狒糞便樣本 測量「糖化皮質類固醇」

stress hormones that spike when humans are bereaved.

即係人類因喪失親友 會急速上升嘅壓力激素

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

佢哋比較因獵食者攻擊而喪親

in a predator attack with those who hadn’t.

同冇經歷喪親嘅雌性狒狒糞便樣本

And they found that the glucocorticoid levels of baboons who had

佢哋發現狒狒喺喪親後一個月內

were significantly higher the month following the death.

體內嘅糖皮質激素水準顯著升高

Those baboons then increased their grooming behavior

之後，佢哋增加咗梳理行為嘅次數

and the number of their grooming partners,

同梳理夥伴嘅數量

噉樣做，佢哋嘅社交圈 就增強咗、同擴大咗

broadening and strengthening their social networks.

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

佢哋嘅糖皮質激素水平 喺兩個月內，又回到基準線上

Researchers have also observed primate mothers engaging in apparently

研究人員亦觀察到靈長類動物嘅媽媽 喺攜帶死去嘅幼崽時

contradictory behaviors while carrying their dead children.

明顯表現出不尋常嘅矛盾行為

Like switching between cannibalizing or dragging their child’s corpse

就好似一吓媽媽食緊幼崽嘅屍體

and carefully carrying or grooming it,

一吓又小心攜帶拖住屍體

suggesting that the mothers were experiencing conflicting impulses

又或者係梳理屍體 三者之間產生矛盾嘅心理

towards the bodies.

不自覺噉轉換

Our current understanding of the emotional landscapes

我哋現在對其他動物

of other animals is severely limited.

情緒方面嘅視野非常有限

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

要進一步理解 動物王國中嘅哀傷

we need a lot more research.

我哋需要更多嘅研究

But where does this leave us for now?

但係我哋依家應該何去何從呢？

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

圍繞非人類動物 係唔係會經歷悲傷等情緒嘅討論

can be emotional,

可能係情緒化

in part because their outcomes have very real implications—

部分原因係具體嘅情況 對結果會有影響——

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

比如決定虎鯨係唔係應該 被隔離同圈養

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

或者奶牛係唔係應該 同新生嘅小牛分開

Until we do have more data on the subject,

喺我哋有更多 有關問題嘅數據之前

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

我哋應唔應該認為 非人類動物擁有

Or assume they don’t?

又或者係冇 悲傷嘅能力呢？

Which belief could cause more harm?

是但一種信念 都可能造成更大嘅傷害？