That's the most moving thing I've seen in a long time. Was the other dog dead - does anyone know?
The more I see of the rest of the animal world, the more of our apparently unique capacities are shown not to be unique at all.
I suppose it was altruism, and not, say, an instinct to drag prey to a safe spot? Don't want to spoil the moment but trying to be scientific about it. Personally, I have no doubts that animals are capable of love and grief. I remember seeing a programme about chimps a year or two ago, and a baby had died, and the mother sat in a clearing with the dead baby in her lap, and other chimps and monkeys gathered round and stood in silence. We cannot know what was going on but it did look like an act of support or communal grief.
That's the most moving thing I've seen in a long time. Was the other dog dead - does anyone know?
ReplyDeleteThe more I see of the rest of the animal world, the more of our apparently unique capacities are shown not to be unique at all.
I suppose it was altruism, and not, say, an instinct to drag prey to a safe spot? Don't want to spoil the moment but trying to be scientific about it. Personally, I have no doubts that animals are capable of love and grief. I remember seeing a programme about chimps a year or two ago, and a baby had died, and the mother sat in a clearing with the dead baby in her lap, and other chimps and monkeys gathered round and stood in silence. We cannot know what was going on but it did look like an act of support or communal grief.
i read somewhere (i don't have the url now, i'm sorry) that both dogs were doing fine.
ReplyDeleteas i see more, i am coming to realize that our experience is not fundamentally different from that of many animals.