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Top 10 Suicidal Animals
In 1897, Emile Durkheim, a Sociologist, published Suicide. Suicide was a statistical study that sought to categorize self-destruction as egoistic, fatalistic, anomic or altruistic. Durkheim sought to expand on the studies of the English jurist William Wynn Westcott and the Italian psychiatrist Enrico Morselli, who both saw suicide as a social phenomenon. Although he did not dispute that the vast majority of suicides (barring neurasthenics) intentionally took their own lives, he argued their actions should be seen as ‘confirmation of a resolve previously formed for reasons unknown to consciousness’.
Although animals are not widely regarded as suicidal, there have been known cases throughout recent decades. Here are just ten suicidal animals that scientists have been trying to determine the reasoning behind:
The Rich Ten
10. Birds
For over a century, thousands of birds have committed suicide in Jatinga, India. The town is populated by only 2,500 people and is not much known to people around the world. The mass suicides occur after monsoon season (September and October) and takes place during dark moonless nights. 44 species of birds, without any explanation, become disturbed and throw/plunge themselves to the ground. Believing that the birds were spirits flying from the sky to terrorize them, local people started to capture them with bamboo poles and beat the birds to death.
9. Spiders
Male spiders are frequently cannibalized by their mates immediately after sex; a bizarre case of self-sacrifice. Spiders have two penis-like organs, known as pedipalps, which break while having sex because they can only have sex twice. Very often female spiders help their mates find purpose by using them as dinner. One possible theory about this bizarre mating is that the male sacrifices himself in order to help his future children by strengthening the mother.
8. Dogs
The belief that dogs commit suicide is a popular one, especially in Italy. The Overtuoun Bridge in Scotland has become infamous for the being the dog suicide bridge. Since the 1950s, it’s seen over 60 dogs inexplicably leap to their deaths. In recent years, the numbers have risen; 5 dogs commit suicide every 6 months. Many dogs even climb the parapet wall before making the jump; making the theory of suicidemore credible. Some dogs have survived the plunge only to come back a second time to attempt to commit suicide yet again.
7. Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are the most well-known animals to be self destructive. They will purposely rupture their glands in a process that is known as autothysis. Termites do the same thing and produce a sticky secretion that leads to a tar baby effect in its defence. The purpose of this is to defend their colony.
6. Dolphins
Captive dolphins are known to commit suicide. They kill themselves in various ways from refusing to eat to smashing their heads repeatedly against the walls. Dolphins are known to have issue with adapting to new ways of life. They mainly rely on raw fish diets that they hunt for themselves. When in captivity, they are fed pieces of fish from humans, which shock them and sends them on a spiral of out of control –suicide.
5. Whales
The term for this is Ceteca stranding. It is a phenomenon in which whales strand themselves on land, usually near the beach, where they die of dehydration. If the whales don’t die from dehydration, the tide covers their blowhole, which then kills them. Usually the cause of suicide is unknown territory. When whales stray into unfamiliar areas, they become confused. The confusion is more prevalent in areas where the angle between the beach and sea bottom is too shallow.
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