What crows teach us about death | Kaeli Swift

Prevoditelj: Gita Sočković Recezent: Sanda Liker

Whether we want to or not, humans spend a great deal of time

Bez obzira želimo li to ili ne, ljudi troše veliku količinu vremena

considering death.

razmišljajući o smrti.

And it's possible we've been doing so since shortly after homo sapiens

I moguće je da smo to radili nedugo nakon što su homo sapiensi

first began roaming the landscape.

prvo počeli lutati krajolikom.

After all, the first intentional human burial

Uostalom, smatra se da se prvi namjerni ljudski pokop

is thought to have occurred around 100,000 years ago.

dogodio prije odprilike 100,000 godina.

What might those early people have been thinking

O čemu su ti rani ljudi razmišljali

as they took the time to dig into the earth,

kada su si uzeli vremena da iskopaju rupu u zemlji,

deposit the body

polože tijelo

and carefully cover it up again?

i oprezno ga ponovno pokriju?

Were they trying to protect it from scavengers

Jesu li ga pokušavali zaštititi od strvinara

or stymie the spread of disease?

ili spriječiti širenje bolesti?

Were they trying to honor the deceased?

Jesu li pokušavali odati počast mrtvima?

Or did they just not want to have to look at a dead body?

Ili samo nisu htjeli gledati u mrtvo tijelo?

Without the advent of a time machine,

Bez izuma vremenskog stroja

we may never know for sure what those early people were thinking,

nikada nećemo biti sigurni o čemu su ti rani ljudi razmišljali,

but one thing we do know is that humans are far from alone

ali jedna stvar koju znamo je da su ljudi daleko od samih

in our attention towards the dead.

u našoj pažnji prema mrtvima.

Like people, some animals,

Kao i ljudi, neke životinje,

including the corvids, the family of birds

uključujući Corvidae, obitelj ptica

that houses the crows, ravens, magpies and jays,

u koju spadaju vrane, gavrani, svrake i šojke,

also seem to pay special attention to their dead.

također obraćaju posebnu pažnju svojim pokojnima.

In fact, the rituals of corvids may have acted as the inspiration

Zapravo, rituali Corvidae ptica vjerovatno su služile kao inspiracija

for our own.

za naše.

After all, it was the raven that God sent down

Uostalom, bio je gavran kojeg je Bog poslao na Zemlju

to teach Cain how to bury his slain brother Abel.

da nauči Kaina kako da pokopa svog ubijenog brata Abela.

But despite this clear recognition by early people that other animals

Ali bez obzira na to očito prepoznavanje ranih ljudi da se ostale životinje

attend to their dead,

brinu u svojim pokojnima,

it's only fairly recently that science has really turned its attention

tek je relativno nedavno znanost posvetila svoju pažnju

towards this phenomenon.

toj pojavi.

In fact, a formal name for this field -- comparative thanatology --

Zapravo, službeni naziv tog područja, komparativna tanatologija,

wasn't first introduced until 2016.

nije se uveo do 2016.

In this growing field, we are beginning to appreciate what a rich place

U tome rastućem području, počinjemo cijeniti koliko je bogata

the natural world is with respect to how other animals interact with their dead,

priroda s obzirom na to kako ostale životinje komuniciraju sa svojim mrtvima

and it's in this growing body of knowledge

i u tom rastućem području znanja

that that time machine to our early ancestors might be possible.

taj vremenski stroj do naših predaka možda postoji.

So what are we learning in this growing field?

O čemu učimo u tom rastućem području?

Well, right now we can split our understanding into two main groups.

Trenutno možemo podijeliti naše shvaćanje u dvije glavne skupine.

In the first, we have animals that display stereotyped, predictable behaviors

U prvoj imamo životinje koje pokazuju stereotipična, predvidiva ponašanja

towards their dead,

prema njihovim pokojnima,

and for whom much of what we understand about them

i od kojih većina toga što shvaćamo o njima

comes from experimental studies.

dolazi od eksperimenata.

This group includes things like the social insects --

Ta grupa uključuje bića kao društvene kukce,

bees and ants and termites --

pčele, mrave i termite,

and for all of these animals, colony hygiene is of critical importance,

i za sve te životinje, higijena kolonije je od kritične važnosti,

and so as a result these animals display rigorous undertaking behaviors

i kao rezultat te životinje pokazuju rigorozna poduzetna ponašanja

in response to corpses.

kao odgovor na trupla.

For example, they may physically remove carcasses from the colony.

Na primjer, mogle bi fizički odstraniti truplo iz kolonije.

They may consume them.

Mogle bi ih pojesti.

They may even construct tombs.

Čak bi mogle konstruirati grobnice.

We see similar hygiene-driven responses in some colony-living mammals.

Primjećujemo slične higijenski vođene reakcije u nekih kolonijskih sisavaca.

Rats, for example, will reliably bury cage-mates

Štakori, na primjer, bi sigurno zakopali svoje suzatvorenike

that have been dead for 48 hours.

koji su bili mrtvi 48 sati.

In our other group, we have animals that display more variable,

U drugoj grupi imamo životinje koje pokazuju više promjenjiva,

perhaps more charismatic behaviors,

možda ipak više karizmatična ponašanja

and for whom much of what we understand about them

i za koje većina našeg shvaćanja njih

comes from anecdotes

dolazi iz anegdota

by scientists or other observers.

znanstvenika ili ostalih promatrača.

This is the animals whose death behaviors

To su životinje čija su ponašanja vezana za smrt,

I suspect might be more familiar to folks.

pretpostavljam, ljudima poznatija.

It includes organisms like elephants,

To uključuje organizme kao slonove,

which are well-known for their attendance to their dead,

za koje je poznata njihova briga o pokojnima,

even in popular culture.

čak i u popularnoj kulturi.

In fact, they're even known to be attracted

Čak je znano da ih privlače

to the bones of their deceased.

kosti njihovih mrtvih.

It also includes animals like primates,

Također uključuje životinje poput primata,

which display a wide variety of behaviors around their dead,

koji pokazuju različite načine ponašanja oko svojih mrtvih,

from grooming them

od dotjerivanja

to prolonged attention towards them,

do dugotrajne pažnje prema njima,

guarding them,

čuvanja njih,

even the transportation of dead infants.

čak i premještanja mrtvih dojenčadi.

And that's actually a behavior we've seen in a number of animals,

I to je zapravo ponašanje koje smo vidjeli kod nekolicine životinja,

like the dolphins for example.

kao, na primjer, dupina.

You may remember the story of Tahlequah,

Možda se sjećate priče o Tahlequahi,

the orca in the resident J pod in the Puget Sound,

orki u rezidentnoj J čahuri u Puget Soundu

who during the summer of 2018

koja je tijekom ljeta 2018.

carried her dead calf

nosila svoje mrtvo mladunče

for an unprecedented 17 days.

besprimjernih 17 dana.

Now, a story like that

Sada, priča kao takva

is both heartbreaking and fascinating,

je u isto vrijeme srcedrapajuća i fascinantna,

but it offers far more questions than it does answers.

ali nam nudi mnogo više pitanja nego odgovora.

For example, why did Tahlequah carry her calf

Na primjer, zašto je Tahlequah nosila svoje mladunče

for such a long period of time?

tako dugo?

Was she just that stricken with grief?

Je li bila toliko pogođena tugom?

Was she more confused by her unresponsive infant?

Je li bila više zbunjena svojim nereagirajućim djetetom?

Or is this behavior just less rare in orcas

Ili je to ponašanje samo manje rijetko među orkama

than we currently understand it to be?

nego što trenutačno mislimo da jest?

But for a variety of reasons,

Ali zbog raznih razloga

it's difficult to do the kinds of experimental studies

teško je napraviti eksperimente

in an animal like an orca, or many of these other large mammals,

na životinjama kao što su orke, ili veliki broj ostalih velikih sisavaca,

that might elucidate those kinds of questions.

koji bi možda razjasnili ovakva pitanja.

So instead, science is turning to an animal whose behaviors around death

Umjesto toga, znanost se okreće životinji o čijem ponašanju oko smrti

we've been thinking about since BCE:

razmišljamo od razdoblja prije Krista:

the crows.

vrane.

Like insects and primates,

Kao kukci i primati,

crows also seem to pay special attention to their dead.

čini se da i vrane obraćaju posebnu pažnju svojim pokojnima.

Typically, this manifests as the discovering bird alarm calling,

Tipično to se očituje kao zov za otkrivanje ptice,

like you can see in this photo,

kao što se primjećuje na slici,

followed by the recruitment of other birds to the area

zapraćen novačenjem ostalih ptica u okolici

to form what we call a mob.

koje stvaraju takozvani skup.

But it can be a little different than that too.

Ali može biti i malo drugačije od toga.

For example, I've had people share with me seeing prolonged silent vigils by crows

Na primjer, ljudi su mi znali reći kako su vidjeli produljena tiha bdjenja vrana

in response to deceased or dying crows.

kao odaziv na mrtve ili umirujuće vrane.

I've even had people tell me of witnessing crows place objects

Čak su mi ljudi govorili da su svjedočili kako vrane stavljaju stvari

like sticks and candy wrappers on or near the bodies of dead crows.

poput grančica i omota od slatkiša na ili blizu tijela mrtvih vrana.

And this mix of observations puts these birds

I ta masa opažanja stavlja te ptice

in a really important place in our scheme,

u jako bitan položaj u našoj shemi,

because it suggests on the one hand they might be like the insects,

zato što sugerira da u jednu ruku mogu biti poput kukaca,

displaying these very predictable behaviors,

prikazivanjem tih veoma predvidivih ponašanja,

but on the other hand we have this handful of observations

ali u drugu ruku imamo nekolicinu opažanja

that are more difficult to explain and feel a bit more like what we see

koja su teža za objasniti i čine se bliže nečemu što primjećujemo

in some of the mammals like primates and elephants.

u nekih sisavaca poput primata i slonova.

And like those animals, crows share an extremely large relative brain size

I poput tih životinja, vrane dijele izuzetno veliku relativnu veličinu mozga

and the kinds of dynamic social lives that might invite more complexity

i vrste dinamičnog društvenog života koje uvode više kompleksnosti

in how they respond to their dead.

u način na koji reagiraju na svoje mrtve.

So I wanted to try to understand what was going on

Zbog toga sam htjela razumjeti što se događa

when crows encounter a dead crow,

kada vrane vide mrtvu vranu

and what this might teach us about the role of death in their world,

i što nas to može naučiti o ulozi smrti u njihovom svijetu,

and possibly the worlds of other animals as well,

a možda i u svjetovima ostalih životinja,

even those early versions of ourselves.

čak i onih ranijih verzija nas.

There's a number of different ways that we could explain

Postoji nekoliko načina na koje bismo mogli objasniti

why crows might be attracted to their dead.

zašto vrane privlače njihovi mrtvi.

For example, maybe it's a social opportunity,

Na primjer, možda je to prilika za socijalizaciju,

a way for them to explore why that individual died,

način na koji istražuju zašto je pojedinac umro,

who they were

tko je bio

and what impact this is going to have on the neighborhood moving forward.

i kakav utjecaj će to imati na susjedstvo u budućnosti.

Maybe it's an expression of grief,

Možda je to izraz žalosti,

like our own contemporary funerals.

kao naši suvremeni sprovodi.

Or maybe it's a way that they learn about danger in their environment.

Ili je to možda način na koji one uče o opasnostima u njihovoj okolini.

While all of those explanations are worth pursuing,

Dok sva ta objašnjenja vrijedi istražiti,

and certainly not mutually exclusive,

a sigurno nisu isključiva,

they're not all testable scientific questions.

nisu sva provjerljiva znanstvena pitanja.

But that idea that dead crows might act as cues of danger, that is.

To jest, ta ideja da mrtve vrane mogu služiti kao znakovi opasnosti.

So as a graduate student, I wanted to explore that question,

Pa zato kao postdiplomac, htjela sam istražiti to pitanje,

particularly with respect to two ideas.

posebno u odnosu na dvije ideje.

The first was whether they might be able to learn new predators,

Prva je mogu li primijetiti nove grabežljivce,

specifically people,

izričito ljude,

based on their association with dead crows.

temeljeno na njihovoj asocijaciji s mrtvim vranama.

And the second was if they might learn places

I druga je mogu li naučiti o mjestima

associated with where they find crow bodies.

povezanim s onima gdje se pronalaze trupla vrana.

So to do this, I would go out into some unsuspecting Seattle neighborhood

Kako bih napravila to, otišla bih u neko bezazleno susjedstvo u Seattleu

and I would start to feed a breeding pair of crows

i počela bih hraniti parove vrana

over the course of three days,

tijekom tri dana,

and this provided a baseline

i to mi je dalo osnovnu liniju

for how quickly the crows would come down to a food pile,

za koliko brzo bi vrane došle do hrpe s hranom

which, as you'll see in a minute, was really important.

što je, vidjet ćete za minutu, bilo od velike važnosti.

Then, on the fourth day,

Onda, na četvrti dan,

we would have our funeral.

imat ćemo naš sprovod.

This is Linda.

Ovo je Linda.

Linda is one of seven masks whose job was to stand there for 30 minutes

Linda je jedna od sedam maski čiji je posao bio da stoji tamo 30 minuta

with her little hors d'oeuvre plate of dead crow

sa svojim malim predjelima mrtve vrane

while I documented what happened.

dok sam ja dokumentirala što se dogodilo.

Most importantly, though,

Ono što je najvažnije,

her job was to come back after a week,

njezin posao bio je vratiti se nakon tjedan dana,

now without the dead crow,

sada bez mrtve vrane,

so that we could see if the birds would treat her just like any old pedestrian,

kako bismo vidjeli hoće li je ptice tretirati kao bilo koji stari prolaznik

or if, instead, they would exhibit behaviors like alarm calling

ili će, umjesto toga, pokazivati ponašanja kao što su alarmi

or dive bombing

ili bombardiranje,

that would indicate that they perceived her as a predator.

što bi nagovjestilo da je vide kao grabežljivca.

Now, given that we already knew crows were capable of learning

Sada, sa spoznajom da već znamo kako su vrane sposobne učiti

and recognizing human faces,

i prepoznati ljudska lica,

it may come as no surprise that the majority of crows in our study

ne bi trebalo biti iznenađujuće da je većina vrana u našem istraživanju

did treat the masks that they saw handling dead crows as threats

tretirala maske koje su vidjele kao prijetnju

when they saw them over the course of the next six weeks.

kada su ih vidjele tijekom sljedećih šest tjedana.

Now, if you're sitting there thinking,

Sada, ako sjedite ovdje misleći,

alright, give me a break,

"dobro, daj,

look at that face, it is terrifying,

pogledaj to lice, zastrašujuće je,

anyone would treat that as a threat

bilo tko bi ga vidio kao prijetnju

if they saw it walking down the street,

ako bi ga vidio da hoda po ulici",

know that you are not alone.

znajte da niste sami.

As it turns out, a lot of the folks

Kako se ispostavilo, mnogo ljudi

whose houses we did these experiments in front of

ispred čijih smo kuća vodili eksperiment

felt the same way,

osjećali su se isto,

but we'll save that for another time.

ali o tome ćemo neki drugi put.

So you may be comforted to know that we did control tests

Možda ćete se utješiti da znate da smo radili kontrolne testove

to make sure that crows don't share our preconceived bias against masks

kako bismo bili sigurni da vrane ne dijele našu unaprijed stvorenu pristranost

that look a bit like the female version of Hannibal Lecter.

protiv maski koje izgledaju poput ženske verzije Hannibala Lectera.

Now, in addition to finding that crows were able to make associations with people

Povrh toga što smo saznali da su vrane sposobne napraviti asocijaciju s ljudima

based on their handling of dead crows,

na osnovi njihovog tretiranja mrtvih vrana,

we also found that in the days following these funeral events,

također smo saznali da danima nakon tih sprovoda,

as we continued to feed them,

kako smo ih nastavili hraniti,

that their willingness to come down to the food pile significantly diminished,

njihova volja da dođu dolje do hrpe hrane znatno se smanjila,

and we didn't see that same kind of decline in our control groups.

te nismo vidjeli istu vrstu pada u našim kontrolnim skupinama.

So that suggests that, yes, crows can make associations

To sugerira da, da, vrane mogu stvarati asocijacije

with particular places where they've seen dead crows.

vezane za određena mjesta gdje su vidjele mrtve vrane.

So together, what that tells us is that

Ukupno to nam govori da

while we certainly shouldn't discount those other explanations,

iako ne možemo odbiti ona ostala objašnjenja,

we can feel pretty confident in saying

možemo biti sigurni kada kažemo

that for crows, attention to their dead

da za vrane, pažnja o njihovim mrtvima

might be a really important way

je vjerojatno važan način

that these animals learn about danger.

na koji te životinje uče o opasnosti.

And that's a nice, tidy little narrative

To je lijepa, uredna mala priča

on which to hang our hats.

koje se držimo.

But in life and death,

Ali u životu i smrti,

things are rarely so neat,

stvari su rijetko tako uredne

and I really came face to face with that in a follow-up experiment,

i stvarno sam se suočila s time u pratećem eksperimentu

where we were looking at how crows respond to dead crows

u kojem smo proučavali kako vrane reagiraju na mrtve vrane

in the absence of any kind of predator.

kada nema nikakvog grabežljivca.

And suffice it to say, we found that in these cases,

Dovoljno je reći da smo u tim slučajevima saznali

the wakes can get a little more weird.

da stvari mogu postati malo čudnije.

So this is what that experimental setup looks like.

Ovako izgleda pokusna instalacija.

You can see our stuffed dead crow alone on the sidewalk,

Možemo vidjeti našu plišanu mrtvu vranu samu na pločniku

and it's been placed on the territory of a pair.

i stavljena je na teritorij para.

(Squawk)

(Kreštanje)

That is the alarm call by one of those territorial birds,

To je alarmni zov jedne od tih teritorijalnih ptica,

and it's coming into frame.

i dolazi u okvir.

Pretty soon, its mate is going to join it.

Uskoro, njezin partner će joj se pridružiti.

And so far, this is all very usual.

Zasad, ovo je sve uobičajeno.

This is what crows do.

Ovo je što vrane rade.

OK, right now it's getting a little less usual.

OK, sada postaje malo manje uobičajeno.

Not everyone here might be familiar with what bird sex looks like,

Nije svatko upoznat s tim kako izgleda ptičji seks

so if you are not, this is what it looks like.

pa ako niste, ovako to izgleda.

You're basically seeing a confluence of three behaviors:

Praktički vidite sjecište triju ponašanja:

alarm, as indicated by the alarm calling;

nemir, naznačen zovovima uzbune,

aggression, as indicated by the very forceful pecking

agresiju, naznačenu vrlo nasilnim kljucanjem

by both one of the copulatory birds and one of the excited bystanders;

od strane jedne od spolno aktivnih ptica i jednog od uzbuđenih promatrača;

and sexual arousal.

i seksualno uzbuđenje.

Clearly, this is startling,

Očigledno ovo je iznenađujuće

and interesting to think about and talk about.

i zanimljivo za razmišljanje i pričanje.

But if our goal is to understand

Ali ako je naš cilj razumjeti

the big picture of how animals interact with their dead,

u cijelosti kako se životinje ponašaju sa svojim pokojnima,

then the most important question we should ask is, is this representative?

onda je najvažnije pitanje, je li ovo reprezentativno?

Is this something that's happening consistently?

Je li ovo nešto što se dosljedno događa?

And that's why being able to do systematic studies with crows

Zato je mogućnost da se provode planski studiji s vranama

is so valuable,

toliko vrijedna,

because after conducting hundreds of these trials,

jer nakon provođenja stotina takvih ispitivanja

where I was placing these dead crows out on the sidewalks

u kojima sam položila mrtve vrane na pločnike

on the territories of hundreds of different pairs,

na teritorije stotina različitih parova,

what we found was that, no, it's not.

saznali smo da ne, nije.

Contact of any kind,

Kontakt bilo koje vrste,

whether it was sexual, aggressive

bio seksualan, agresivan

or even just exploratory,

ili samo izviđajan,

only occurred 30 percent of the time.

pojavio se samo 30 posto vremena.

So given that this wasn't representative,

S obzirom na to da nije bio reprezentativan,

this was the minority,

to je bila manjina,

we may be tempted to just dismiss it

možemo biti u iskušenju da ga samo otpustimo,

as irrelevant, odd, creepy, weird crow behavior.

bez obzira na to koliko je to nebitno, čudno i jezivo ponašanje vrana.

But what may surprise you is that behaviors like aggression

Što bi vas moglo iznenaditi je da su ponašanja poput agresije

or even sexual arousal

pa čak i seksualnog uzbuđenja

aren't all that rare,

nerijetka,

and certainly aren't constrained to just crows.

i sigurno se ne pojavljuju samo kod vrana.

Because while the popular narrative when it comes to animal death behaviors

Zato što je popularna priča kada dolazi do ponašanja kod životinjskih smrti

tends to focus on affiliative behaviors

vezana za pripadna ponašanja,

like grooming or guarding,

poput dotjerivanja i čuvanja,

that is far from the complete list of what even our closest relatives do

to je daleko od potpune liste stvari koje čak i naši najbliži rođaci čine

around their dead.

oko svojih mrtvih.

In fact, we've documented behaviors like biting, beating and even sex itself

Zapravo, dokumentirali smo ponašanja poput ujedanja, tučnjave pa čak i samog seksa

in a wide variety of animals,

kod širokog spektra životinja,

including many primates and dolphins.

uključujući primate i dupine.

So where does this leave us in our understanding of animals

Gdje nas to ostavlja u našem razumijevanju životinja

and their death rituals?

i njihovih posmrtnih rituala?

Well, for crows, it suggests that,

Pa, za vrane, to sugerira da,

like insects, they may have a strong adaptive driver

poput insekata, možda imaju snažni prilagodljivi pokretač

in their interest in their dead.

u njihovom interesu za mrtve.

In this case, it might be danger learning,

U tom slučaju, moguće da uče u opasnosti,

and that might have acted as the inspiration

i da je to služilo kao inspiracija

for our own rituals as well.

za naše rituale.

But when we look more closely,

Ali kada pogledamo bolje,

we see that there's no one simple narrative

vidimo da ne postoji jednostavno objašnjenje

that can explain the vast array of behaviors

koje može objasniti širok spektar ponašanja

we see in crows and many other animals.

koje vidimo kod vrana i mnogih drugih životinja.

And that suggests that we are still far from completing that time machine.

To sugerira da smo još uvijek daleko od dovršavanja tog vremenskog stroja.

But it's going to be a really fascinating ride.

Ali, bit će to jako fascinantan put.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)