What Do ANIMALS FEEL?

IT IS NOT ONLY HUMANS WHO FEEL EMPATHY, SADNESS AND JOY. OTHER SPECIES ALSO APPEAR TO HAVE COMPLEX EMOTIONS

- BY Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

I HAVE LIVED FOR 11 YEARS now with my dog, Charlie—a bloodhound who greets me jubilantly every time I come home, even if it’s from a quick grocery run.

I can hear his tail go thump-thump-thump on the floor in the next room when I laugh; he echoes my mirth even when he can’t see me.

Looking at him sunning himself on our front porch makes me think about a deeper question: Do other species have thoughts and feelings and memories the way we do?

As I watch him sunning himself on the veranda, a profound question arises: Do other species think, feel, and remember the same way we humans do?

More and more behavioural studies are showing that many animal species have much more in common with humans than previously thought. Elephants mourn. Dolphins play for fun. Ravens seem to respond to the emotional states of other ravens. Many primates form close friendships. In some species, such as elephants and orcas, older ones pass on their experiences to younger ones. Some others, including rats, are capable of empathy and kindness.

Today, some behavioural scientists are convinced that “the internal processes of many animals are just as complex as those of humans,” reports Frans de Waal, an ethologist at Emory University in Atlanta, USA, who has spent his life researching primate behaviour. “The difference is that we can talk about our feelings.”

If this new understanding prevails, it could lead to a rethink about how humans treat other species. “When you recognize emotions in animals, including the sentience of insects, then they become morally relevant,” says de Waal. “They're not the same as stones. They're sentient beings.”