Empathy

Turns out empathy for others is not just a human trait! As technology allows us to have access to animals in their own habitats, we are learning the true nature of animals.

Lawrence Anthony, a conservationist who founded the 5,000-acre Thula Thula Reserve with African elephants, gained a reputation for being able to comfort elephants upon their arrival at the reserve. In his book, “The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild,” he said he learned to communicate with the elephants by observing how they communicated with each other.

When Anthony died of a heart attack, elephants traveled to his home seemingly to pay their respects. His son said that since his father’s death, the herd has come to his house on the edge of their reserve every night. While elephants grieving the loss of their own herd members is not a new phenomenon, the act of paying respects to a human who worked hard to help them is remarkable.

A study done in 2011 proved that rats empathize with their friends! In the study, rats saved their friends from drowning. The experiment showed that when one rat was soaked in water, another rat quickly learned how to operate a lever that would allow the rat to escape to a dry area. What’s really unusual about this experiment is that the rats gave up a treat that would have dropped if they didn’t pull the lever to help their fellow rat. This suggests the well-being of their friend was more valuable to them than food for themselves. If the suffering rat wasn’t present, the other rat accepted the treat.

And finally, birds. Dr Bekoff, of the University of Colorado studied four magpies alongside a dead magpie and recorded their behavior.

“One approached the corpse, gently pecked at it, just as an elephant would nose the carcass of another elephant and stepped back. Another magpie did the same thing,” he said. “Next, one of the magpies flew off, brought back some grass and laid it by the corpse. Another magpie did the same. Then all four stood vigil for a few seconds and one by one flew off.” After publishing an account of the funeral, he received emails from people who had seen the same ritual in magpies, ravens and crows.

The recent movie “My Friend the Octopus,” enlightened us about the real intelligence of that species. I hope that I can show empathy toward others. For me, being a wise steward involves learning about all the inhabitants of our planet and respecting each as a divine creation.

(Elephant and rat stories shared online at uwa.edu)

Photo: Paula Bronstein