Do Any Animal Commit Suicide?

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Xerxes

asdfghjkl
Valued Senior Member
Do Any Animals Commit Suicide?

If so, which ones?

What are their motives?
 
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Actually, kenworth, it wasn't an accident.
The lemmings were culled together on a turntable to make it appear there was more of them migrating (on a cliff that wasn't even on their migratory route), then deliberately "pushed" off the cliff by the film makers to make for a more interesting "Nature Documentary".
It was closer to murder than suicide.
And Walt Disney's Fairy Tale lives on still.
 
As far as what was said in the links about whales...
It irritates me that "scientists" decide what the "intentions" of the whales were.
Fact of the matter is, we do not know if they were "lost and confused" or not.
I have seen at least one account of a pod of whales that each member seemingly intentionally beached itself and stayed there until the leader died, then, voluntarily went back to sea.
It could very well be a suicide on the part of the leader, knowing his ailing health would lead the pod astray, and mourning and respect on behalf of the other pod members.

We simply don't know.
 
one_raven said:
Actually, kenworth, it wasn't an accident.
The lemmings were culled together on a turntable to make it appear there was more of them migrating (on a cliff that wasn't even on their migratory route), then deliberately "pushed" off the cliff by the film makers to make for a more interesting "Nature Documentary".
It was closer to murder than suicide.
And Walt Disney's Fairy Tale lives on still.
Click to expand...

yeah that was what i read,i was reffering to the fact that lots of them try to migrate and drown in lakes and rivers etc.guess they just arent too clever.i do quite like that cute and fluffy disney murdered tonnes of animals to make a documentary on their "natural" behaviour.
 
kenworth said:
i do quite like that cute and fluffy disney murdered tonnes of animals to make a documentary on their "natural" behaviour.
Click to expand...
Me too! :p

the octopus article said:
I believe that the term "suicide" means a conscious decision to end a life. It presumes that something is sentient and knows what it is doing.... I strongly disagree with referring to animals jumping off cliffs (such as lemmings) as suicides. I don't think that is suicide. In the case of wolf spiders being devoured by their young, the female is dying because of an inbuilt response - it's not a conscious decision like suicide. The female has simply lived her life and chemicals are released that start to kill her. The babies take advantage!

The same thing happens with the female octopus. When her eggs mature, she has lived her life and dies. This actually makes space for the future development of offspring and increases food for them. In addition, the young octopuses don't have to compete with adults who would prey on them, too
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Again, suppositions and anthropomorphism.
We don't know what the octopus (or any other animal) knows or does not know.

(not to mention that the author is apparently unaware of the lemmings farce)
 
i cant find the page, but if you will search through newscientist you will find an article on seals that climb up a hill, whchi takes days to climb, only to jump off it to their deaths. they have found something like 80 bodies undreath that one cliff
 
Birds - fly into windows
Deer - run into cars
Possums - ditto
Raccoons - ditto
Squirrels - ditto
Fish - they obviously must know by now that the damn worm on the fishing line is BAD

...and other assortment of creatures
 
Oh come on. Animals collide with cars because their brains can't handle the kinematics of objects moving at such a high rate of speed.

If you're not being serious, excuse me. I don't have the gene for sarcasm.
 
But thats not suicide, theys just there nature.

Birds - Can't see that great
Deer - Curious
Possoums - ditto
Raccoons - ditto
Squirrels - dittos
Fish - Hungry/curious [most who find the hook bad are not there to tell the tale]

Although I do think some birds have a suicidial nature. Every time we drive a bird gets in front of the car....
 
I don't think there can be any doubt that animals do 'commit suicide'. Or, rather, they lose the will to live and therefore die.

Many animals die in captivity simply because they lack the will to live in such a state. Isn't this a form of suicide?

Many social animals lose the will to live when removed from their social groups.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of these animals, rather than just dying from neglect, put themselves in dangerous situtations. Attacking predators. Hell. Never know, some might even court death on the road.


Anyway, the lemmings mad dash off the cliff is a hoax then?
Really?
 
invert_nexus said:
Anyway, the lemmings mad dash off the cliff is a hoax then?
Really?
Click to expand...
Yep.

On more than one level...

Scopes Article said:
Disney's White Wilderness was filmed in Alberta, Canada, which is not a native habitat for lemmings and has no outlet to the sea. Lemmings were imported for use in the film, purchased from Inuit children by the filmmakers. The Arctic rodents were placed on a snow-covered turntable and filmed from various angles to produce a "migration" sequence; afterwards, the helpless creatures were transported to a cliff overlooking a river and herded into the water. White Wilderness does not depict an actual lemming migration — at no time are more than a few dozen lemmings ever shown on the screen at once. The entire sequence was faked using a handful of lemmings deceptively photographed to create the illusion of a large herd of migrating creatures.
Click to expand...

Snopes Article Source
 
“ Originally Posted by Scopes Article
Disney's White Wilderness was filmed in Alberta, Canada, which is not a native habitat for lemmings and has no outlet to the sea. Lemmings were imported for use in the film, purchased from Inuit children by the filmmakers. The Arctic rodents were placed on a snow-covered turntable and filmed from various angles to produce a "migration" sequence; afterwards, the helpless creatures were transported to a cliff overlooking a river and herded into the water. White Wilderness does not depict an actual lemming migration — at no time are more than a few dozen lemmings ever shown on the screen at once. The entire sequence was faked using a handful of lemmings deceptively photographed to create the illusion of a large herd of migrating creatures.
”
Click to expand...
Shit. I mean damn... I mean... What the fuck? All this time? The whole lemming thing? A disney fabrication? Who the hell came up with such a fucked up idea and why???

*picks sagging jaw off of desk top* :eek:
 
Why?
According to the article...
Nature documentaries are notoriously difficult to film, as wild animals are not terribly cooperative. Many nature shows and films of this era — including Disney's "True-Life Adventure" movies and TV's Wild Kingdom — staged events to capture exciting footage for their audiences.
Click to expand...

Apparently this has happened quite a bit in other documentaries too.

It's a sad sad state of affairs, if you ask me.
 
Crap. First Santa, then the easter bunny, now disney. Such disillusionment. Life is sooo dissapointing at times...
 
Have you noticed, when cats wait on the kerb and then dash out to the other side of the road as you approach in your car? They wait until the last moment and then make the mad dash, usually under the belly of the car between the front and back wheels! I believe they can do this feat up to nine times before ending up as road pizza.
 
So I guess the consensus is that animals can loose the will to live. But the question is- are there any animals with enough self-awareness to actively murder themselves?

Seals aren't smart enough to jump off cliffs, and cats are always testing their reflexes. Attempted suicide? Probably not.
 
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