Suicide in Animals
In 1845, the Illustrated London News reported that a Newfoundland dog had been acting less lively over a period of days before being seen "to throw himself in the water and endeavor to sink by preserving perfect stillness of the legs and feet". Every time he was rescued he attempted to do this again before he finally held his head underwater until death. The newspaper ran stories on other dogs, as well as ducks, that had also allegedly drowned themselves, although the veracity or certainty of these cases is disputed. In one of the alleged cases, one duck did so after the death of its mate.
Another example of an alleged case of animal suicide is the case of the dolphin which most often portrayed Flipper on the 1960s television show Flipper. According to trainer Ric O'Barry in the film The Cove, Kathy, the dolphin, suffocated herself before him. The veracity or accuracy of this case has not been established in rigorous, scientific or objective terms. Similarly, a male bottle nose dolphin named Peter who was a subject in a series of experiments led by John C. Lilly, a neuroscientist, and Margaret Howe Lovatt, a volunteer naturalist, apparently stopped breathing after he was moved to a lab in a different location and separated from Lovatt.
Some dogs will refuse food from some unknown person after the death of their owner, a behavior that might lead to disease or death in severe cases. The death of mourning animals is likely to be caused by depression leading to starvation or drowning, instead of the intent of suicide.
One of the most clear examples of animal suicide would most likely be the suicidal behavior of tarsiers that are kept in captivity. Tarsiers are nervous and shy by nature, and do not do well in captivity. Many activities associated with captivity, such as camera flashes, being touched, and being kept in an enclosure, can stress the tarsiers. This stress can lead to sore eyes, which is an indication of a poor diet, and the lighting usually used in captivity can cause long-lasting damage to the eyes. When they feel too stressed out, they start beating their heads against hard surfaces, which leads to death.
Excerpt of “History of Animals” ( Book 9, chapter 34). Written by Aristotle around 350 BC
“Camels do not cover their mothers, but refuse even if force is used. For on one occasion, when there was no stallion, the keeper put the mother’s colt to her, after putting a wrap over her; when it fell away after the mating, by then he had completed the intercourse, but a little later he bit the camel-man to death. It is said too that the king of the Scythians had a high-quality mare all of whose colts were good; the king, wishing to breed from the best out of the mother, brought it to her to mate; but it refused; but after she had been concealed under a wrap it mounted her in ignorance; and when the mare’s face was uncovered after the mating, at sight of her the horse ran away and threw itself down the cliffs.”
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