Can other animals understand death? - Barbara J. King

譯者: 麗玲 辛 審譯者: 穎君 紀

In 2018, an orca called Tahlequah gave birth.

2018 年，一頭名叫 塔勒闊的虎鯨生下孩子，

But her daughter died within an hour.

但她女兒不到一小時就去世了。

Tahlequah, however, didn’t leave her body.

然而，塔勒闊沒有離開她女兒的屍體。

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

在接下來的 17 天， 長達 1600 公里的移動中，

she kept it afloat atop her own,

她讓女兒的屍體浮在她上方，

diving to retrieve the body whenever it slipped away,

每次屍體滑掉，她就 潛到水裏，再把牠找回來，

even after it began deteriorating.

即使屍體已經開始腐爛。

By altering her feeding and travel patterns,

塔勒闊改變她的進食和移動模式，

Tahlequah’s behavior was certainly unusual.

這些行為相當異於平常。

But was she mourning— or just confused?

不過，她是在哀悼， 或者只是感到困惑？

Do non-human animals grieve?

人類以外的動物會悲傷嗎？

This question is tricky.

這個問題很棘手。

In 1871, Charles Darwin argued that other animals

1871 年，查爾斯・達爾文主張

動物也有多種情緒，包括悲傷。

experience a wide range of emotions, including grief.

But, especially in the absence of a dependable bridge

然而，由於人類和動物心智之間

between our minds and theirs,

沒有可靠的溝通媒介，

many scientists have long been wary

對投射人類情感到其他動物一事，

of projecting human emotions onto other animals.

科學家們長久以來抱持保守態度。

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

也有人認為，動物在親友死後 呈現的非常規行為，

for other adaptive reasons.

是出於適應性原因。

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

人類曾經被公認是個特例—

other animals were reacting and surviving,

動物只能隨環境變化 改變行為、求生存，

while we alone were thinking and feeling.

而人類卻會思考和感受。

This conception was increasingly challenged during the 20th century.

但在 20 世紀，這個觀念 受到越來越多的質疑。

In 1985, for example, a gorilla called Koko,

例如 1985 年時， 一隻名叫可可的大猩猩

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

受過訓練，會使用 美國手語中的一些手勢。

was told that her kitten companion had died.

可可得知她的小貓同伴已經過世時，

She made distress calls, and several weeks later,

她發出苦惱的呼喊。

幾個星期後，她看著 另一隻小貓的照片，

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

她用手語表示「哭泣」、 「傷心」和「皺眉」。

Now there’s a growing pool of data and observations

越來越多的數據和觀察顯示，

suggesting that some animals, including mammals and birds,

某些動物，包括哺乳動物和鳥類，

might experience what we call grief.

可能會感受到我們所謂的悲傷。

In 2003, Eleanor, an elephant matriarch, collapsed.

2003 年，大象女族長 埃莉諾倒下了。

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

幾分鐘之內，另一名叫格蕾絲的女族長 走近，想幫助埃莉諾站起來，

only for her to fall again.

但埃莉諾又倒下。

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

格蕾絲發出聲音，留在埃莉諾身邊， 試圖把她推起來。

When Eleanor died, a female named Maui approached,

埃莉諾死後，名叫毛伊的雌象走近，

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

靠在埃莉諾的身上，前後搖晃。

Over the course of one week,

一週內，

elephants from five different families visited Eleanor’s body.

來自五個不同家庭的大象 前來探望埃莉諾的屍體。

On separate occasions,

另外幾次觀察中，

elephants have been observed carrying the remains of family members,

人們發現大象隨身攜帶 家庭成員的遺骸，

including jawbones and tusks.

包括頜骨和象牙。

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

2010 年，一頭長頸鹿出生時 腳部畸形，走路有困難。

The calf lived just four weeks.

這隻小長頸鹿只活了四週。

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

小長頸鹿死的那天，22 頭雌性 和 4 頭幼年長頸鹿

closely attended and occasionally nuzzled the body.

一直在旁照料， 偶爾用鼻子輕輕觸踫屍體。

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

第三天早上，只剩長頸鹿媽媽， 她仍不吃東西，

which giraffes usually do constantly.

儘管長頸鹿通常會不斷進食。

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

她一直待在死去的寶寶身邊， 即使鬣狗已經來啃食屍體。

Scientists have also begun quantitatively assessing other animals’

科學家們也開始定量評估

responses to death.

其他動物對死亡的反應。

In 2006, researchers analyzed baboon fecal samples for glucocorticoids,

2006 年，研究人員分析狒狒的 糞便樣本，檢測糖皮質激素，

stress hormones that spike when humans are bereaved.

這是人們悲傷時激增的壓力激素。

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

在獵食者襲擊事件中， 研究人員將失去親人的雌性狒狒

in a predator attack with those who hadn’t.

與未失去親人的樣本進行比較。

And they found that the glucocorticoid levels of baboons who had

他們發現，失去親人的 狒狒的糖皮質激素數值

were significantly higher the month following the death.

在死亡事件後的一個月內顯著升高。

Those baboons then increased their grooming behavior

這些狒狒梳理毛髮行為的頻率，

and the number of their grooming partners,

和梳毛夥伴的數量在事件後增加，

broadening and strengthening their social networks.

這擴大、增強了牠們的社交網絡。

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

兩個月內，牠們的 糖皮質激素數值恢復正常水準。

Researchers have also observed primate mothers engaging in apparently

研究人員還觀察到 靈長類母親抱著死去的孩子時，

contradictory behaviors while carrying their dead children.

表現出明顯矛盾的行為，

Like switching between cannibalizing or dragging their child’s corpse

例如，一會咬食或拖拽孩子屍體，

and carefully carrying or grooming it,

一會又小心地抱著或梳理屍體毛髮，

suggesting that the mothers were experiencing conflicting impulses

這顯示了母親對屍體 正經歷相互衝突的衝動。

towards the bodies.

Our current understanding of the emotional landscapes

目前，我們對動物的情感世界了解不多。

of other animals is severely limited.

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

想更加了解動物王國中的哀悼行為，

we need a lot more research.

需要更多的研究。

But where does this leave us for now?

但現在應該怎麼做呢？

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

討論動物是否有情感（例如悲傷）

can be emotional,

可能引起許多情緒，

in part because their outcomes have very real implications—

部分是因為討論結果 具有十分現實的影響，

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

比如，判定虎鯨是否 應該被隔離、圈養，

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

是否應該將奶牛與新生的小牛分開。

Until we do have more data on the subject,

在取得更多相關數據資料之前，

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

我們對待動物時，應該假定 牠們能感受到悲傷？

Or assume they don’t?

還是假設牠們不會？

Which belief could cause more harm?

相信哪種假設會造成更大的傷害呢？