:eek: You subjected an innocent bird to Carrot Top? The ASPCA has been alerted.
To be a bit more serious, I think communal animals while not undersanding death the way we do (like we really understand it) will give in to despair when they lose their communal connections. I imagine some pack animals lost from their pack might just lay down and die. I imagine some animals who mate for life (humans don’t qualify) might well lay down and die when their mate dies. Ive seen films of chimps who have been too far in mourning to go out and forage.
I think a dog might pine away and die if their owner did. Cats of course will just eat you.
Oh and, I’ve heard a similar story about ants…some parisite that convices them to climb a tree and hang from it while they eat their insides out. No, Im not making this up.
While not scientific evidence, according to some seemingly authoritative nature specials I’ve seen, young adolescent chimps will sometimes pine away to starvation and death if their mother dies.
The same behaviour is seen in numerous species of Dasyurid marsupials, except that in those cases all the males die. The effect is so strong that in many species not a single living male exists for several months of each year. That’s pretty astounding when you consider that these are mammals we are talking about, but in no way indicative of suicide.
I think we need to clarify what the OP means. Is animal suicide:
An animal taking steps to die when it could very easily save its life (e.g. animals that “choose” stavation in order to protect its brood.
An animal behavior that indicates a level beyond instinct that would be “suicidal” in the human world. I’m thinking of self-sacrifice like the proverbial mama cat that gives up her life to save her kittens.
An animal that actively takes its own life for no other purpose than to snuff it. This would neccesitate self-awareness and a knowing a distinction between life and death.
My personal choice is number 2. I refuse to believe that animal self-sacrifice (like Shakespeare in “Meerkat Manor” is entirely instinctual or comes from not understanding death.
Notice I’m leaving out breeding actions that lead to an animal’s death like male bees. I think that that sort of behavior is pure instinct.