TRAVELS WITH TAM

I just read a fascinating article in National Geographic about animals recognizing themselves in a mirror.  Being able to do so requires high level cognitive skills.  Of the ten species shown to be able to self-recognize, only one is not a mammal.  The ten animals are:

1. Humans. Humans, however, develop outside the womb for longer than other animals, so it takes about 18 months for a baby to recognize herself in a mirror.

2. Orangutans recognize themselves in the mirror. Charles Darwin made a note of this fact when visiting a London zoo, but it was much later that scientists began to use the mirror test.

3.  Chimpanzees first made threatening noises toward their reflection, but then began using it for grooming and making funny faces.

4.  Gorilla…but only one Gorilla.  Koko, the talking Gorilla.  Koko is now 42 years old, and recognizes more than 1,000 words in American Sign Language and 2,000 words in verbal English.  Even more astonishing, Koko has invented signs to describe both physical items and emotions. Creation of language is supposed to be a human trait, not shared by other species.

5.  Bottlenose Dolphins. Dolphins like to look at themselves…looking at their markings, and they choose the best, or clearest, reflectives surfaces to do so. I don’t blame them, they are a very pretty animal, aren’t they?

6.  The Elephant. Elephants look in the mirror to see their mouths, and they turn around to see their backs, and they examine different parts of their bodies.  Elephants are such incredible animals, they have complex social systems, superior intelligence, and true empathy for others.

7.  Orcas, like dolphins, have the ability to self recognize.

8.  Bonobos are a calmer and sweeter type of ape species, and they are endangered. Most of us have never heard of this animal, but it is genetically the most similar to humans and chimpanzees.  They even walk upright.  Check them out!  Bonobos.

9.  Rhesus Macaques, a monkey species.

10. A European Magpie, a bird!  They are related to crows, and birds can be very intelligent. The Magpie has a large brain with a lot of connectivity.

What strikes me about this list is the number of species on it that humans have preyed on, even to the extent of threatening their populations.  The poor elephant has been terribly mistreated, both in Asia and in Africa, hunted for their tusks, and trained with hooks and chains to work and carry tourists around in baskets.

The slaughter of Dolphins in Japan has become well known….over 20,000 are herded up by fisherman every year. The Bottlenose dolphins are sold off to Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (Sea World?) around the world, separated from their pods and their young, and the rest of them are slaughtered.  I mean, massacred. Strangely enough, there is no International law protecting 71 out of approximately 80 cetacean species.  Cetaceans are whales, porpoises, and dolphins. It is hard to understand why these animals are not protected. There is no purpose in killing them for food, as they are highly toxic, being filled with mercury.  Many of us have seen Blackfish, and know that many Orcas in captivity have been taken from their mothers at a young age, leaving them with no family and no social pod.

Primate species are threatened by humans as well, mostly by habitat loss, killing for food, and live capture. Many monkey species are captured for the illegal pet trade.

So we humans seem to believe we are far above other animals, and therefore have the right to make these animals serve us in one way or another. For food, entertainment, and tusks, we drive species to the edge of existence.  Do we recognize in ourselves that we are guilty of this? That perhaps these other species also have a right to exist?  Why are humans so cruel to other species? Well, we are cruel to other humans, so I guess why not display cruelty to other animals as well?  What is it in the human make-up, that we act like this?

No one really knows.  Our close relative, the chimpanzee, is the only other species to behave cruelly and violently to others of its kind.  Predators kill for sustenance, other animals have displays for self-protection, but they do not hurt others within their species.  In humans and chimps, the male is the more violent.  As a former Lecturer on Gender and Crime, I am familiar with many of the theories which try to explain it.  Is it nurture or nature? Hormones? Why the close genetic connection between the two most violent species on the earth?  These are questions which still have no answers.

Do we recognize this propensity for violence within our species? Does it bother us? No one really talks about it. With all of the war and terrorism and crime…no one ever says, why are humans like this? Why do we hurt and kill one another?  We talk about the causes for which we kill, and we seem to be desensitized to brutality and abuse, particularly toward women.  I don’t have any answers, I only have questions. Are there answers?  I don’t know that either. If we had an answer, could we change? I’d like to think so….but the other trait humans have is that we cannot agree on anything, so even if there was an answer, we would probably start fighting over it.  It’s a conundrum.