Can animals commit suicide?

I’m not sure. Is it not lemmings that throw themselves off cliffs or something? Really have no idea!

Some proof.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Do-Animals-Commit-Suicide-63441.shtml

Actually if an animal is so helplessly abused or has suffered a huge loss it can take its own life.

ok, I am going to give in on this one. phannie you seem to know what you are talking about. I’ll agree to disagree. :-)

Animals have brains - just like humans do. They aren’t as dumb as people think they are.

They can kill themselves - whether or not they know they’re doing it though is a different story.

I’m saying, that there is absolutely NO scientific evidence that animals commit suicide…Old animals cannot keep up…that could account for the fact that they “appear” to wander off alone.

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Yes they can.

Yes they can

phrannie, when a wild animal (an old one) removes himself from his herd and so then kills himself it is not because he is humanized..

I know, that isn’t proof. maybe I misquoted. but still animals can commit suicide, it happens in nature very often without human intervention. They sometimes commit suicide so that the rest of the group can survive - like the older ones, so then it comes down to their group’s survival.

I would say “yes”, animals are very intelligent- and if given no other option to avoid capture they have taken their own life.

an old buffalo strays away from the safety of the herd- knowing it’s time is near an end- and basically sacrifices itself to predators- sounds like suicide to me.

Animals do not commit suicide. Like phrannie said, There instinct is survial. They do not say “gee I am cold and starving so I think I will jump off this cliff” They will fight to the end. Hense the saying Fear to flight.
Yes they are intellgant. Not as dumb as we are to choose to take there own life. They will do anything and eat anything to survive. We have found rocks, wood, plastic in dogs abdomins during exploratories. They will do anything to live.

The only animal that does commit suicide are whales. Monkeys don’t, lemmings don’t and neither do wasps.

Animals run on instinct…Humans run on intellect (that’s why they are so much more screwed up)…Animals aren’t stupid…that’s obvious…but only with training and trust in a human do they over-ride instinct (horses are the very best example)…

The most detrimental thing happening to animals today, is people trying to humanize them…

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they probably can things like plants and other animals can let off chemicals that make the animals kill themselves or kill each other kind of like the movie, the happening because that stuff actually does happen its not known to happen with humans but it is with animals and bugs its mainly plants that send off these chemicals to protect themselves from predators and plants do evolve quickly so theyve learn to get rid of certain threats to them by letting off chemicals that either kills, makes them kill themselves or kills others of there kind weather the animals can intentionally kill themselves…im not sure just like animals are programed to surive though, so are humans however, humans have learnt that they dont have to if they dont want to and since animals arnt as stupid as most people think they are, theyve probably learnt that too

Animals have the instinct to survive…but really no concept of death (ever seen one worry about it??)…If Lemmings are suicidal, then only the first one over the cliff was suicidal…the rest just followed (instinct)…

No…animals do NOT intentionally take their own lives. Animals that run into traffic are either going somewhere, following someone, or chasing something…Dogs that jump off balconies, dive thru windows, jump out of pickups…are doing the same thing…Horses that run back into burning barns are in a red zone of panic…Their inner drives makes them do stupid stuff…

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Animals DO NOT intentionally Kill themselves. If something is wrong with a animal, then yes they will leave the Pack or get “kicked out” because they are not strong enough. When a female gives birth, if something is wrong with one of the young, she will not feed it and push it to the side. We as mothers would not do this. We would fight and do everything we can to help our child live. Yes they are smart but they are not on a level of emotion as us. “Fall in Love” “sucide” There are only a few animals that have a mate for life and will stay together as a family. The rest is just “raw animal instinct” We need to learn from them. Phrannie I could not agree more with you.

I’m reading the link that was supplied by you, crazy…I don’t see any “proof” of anything about suicide…what I DO see is “humanizing” going on…The two old lions? If they were already nearly starved to death, it would seem more likely that the living lion simply died of starvation…not having the strength to go out and hunt (after all lions hunt “together”) .

The tale of the two dogs?? I highly doubt that the airedale died in just “a few days” of starvation…it takes about 3 weeks to do that.

The story of the dog who jumped over a rail, back in Roman Times?? …following it’s master, dead or not.

The German Shepherd who wouldn’t take food? Well, he lived for a year, so he must have been getting food somewhere.

The dolphins?? Whenever they find a dead dolphin along the shore, is it considered a “suicide”?

The horse that ran off the cliff commited suicide?? Have you EVER been around a panic’d horse? They will run thur, over, under…and off ANYTHING…This horse was obviously very fearful of a whip…so fearful, it ran till there was no ground under it…but it didn’t make a “decision” to end it all.

The lioness (in a cage, no less) who self-mutilated? All animals are capable of self-mutilation during stress…dogs, cats, lions…could the cage have been more stressing than the loss of the cubs?? The same thing with the giraffe…self mutilation…stress…

There is no doubt that animals grieve, that they fear, that they get happy…but they live in moment…”past” haunts them by “triggers”…

The only thing I saw in this article was an attempt to humanize the animal kingdom…which as I said before is detremental…not only them…but detremental to humans…it’s thinking like this that gets people hurt and killed by animals…

This article was written by an “Editor”…that means it’s an editorial…an opinion…not scientic fact.

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