Animal suicide - the mystery of 'conscious death'

Hundreds of dolphins, thousands of sheep, thousands of Jumbo squid . committed suicide to end their lives. So far, the collective suicide of animals still makes a mystery that scientists have a headache.

Suicide is a behavior that seems only to humans, but in the last few years, it has appeared in many animals.

Mysterious phenomena and real records

The suicides of animals began to be recognized by humans in 1845 in London. The London News reported at that time, a Newfoundland dog tried to commit suicide for several days - he threw himself into the water or immersed himself in the bottom of the lake.

The owner had chained it up, but only a few days later, the animal broke off the rope and then immersed himself again. The poor owner sent the animal to a veterinarian to help him regain balance, but then the dog fled and stabbed his head into a car on the road.

Ric O'Barry and the famous Kathy dolphin in the 60s

Almost 100 years later, dolphin coach Ric O'Barry told the audience a horrifying moment to witness Kathy dolphin committing suicide. This is a famous dolphin " girl" in the 1960s on the TV show Flipper.

He said: 'Dolphins and whales do not breathe unconsciously like we do. Each of their breaths is a conscious effort, so they can end their lives whenever they want. Kathy was really depressed. He swam into my arms, looked straight into my eyes, took a deep breath, and stopped breathing. I let it go quietly like that. '

Or in Scotland still noted the strange phenomenon that happened during the past few decades. That is the long snout dogs such as collie, retriever and labrador constantly committed suicide in Overtoun, Scotland. Within 50 years, more than 50 dogs jumped and died at the Overtoun Bridge . The strange thing is that the dead dogs here dance in the same position.

Over time, the number of suicidal animals is more and more scary. On November 18, 1998, in New Zealand waters, more than 300 dolphins from the ocean rushed to the shore and laid themselves on the hot, dry beach. Many tourists and rescue workers tried to bring them back to the sea but the other dolphins continued to crash into the shore in an unintelligible way.

Mass suicide sheep in Turkey

In 2005, many people witnessed a strange event, nearly 1,550 sheep jumping down a cliff in Turkey . The shepherds were stunned by this phenomenon. And despite all the ways to prevent them, the sheep were still frantically plunging into the pool.

Nearly 450 children died immediately, the remaining 1,100 were handicapped, slightly injured due to lying on the dead bodies of the previously dead. However, they also tried to bang their heads on the cliff to finish their lives.

According to a report of an animal research center in Singapore, there are many cases of suicide in China and Vietnam . In 2009, an investigator witnessed the bears in a farm taking a gallon on a hunger strike and lying motionless in a cage. The farmer said they went on a hunger strike for 10 days, and died the next day.

In 2011, the world recorded two other extremely bizarre suicide animals. The first is a photo published by Daniel J. Cox photographer to record a terrible moment in Antarctica . In the picture, people see hundreds of weak penguins , even individuals who have died completely because of hunger on thick ice. So far, the cause of the phenomenon has never been clarified.

Meanwhile, in China, a herd of 1,500 reared rabbits suddenly killed himself in half but it is unclear why. According to Yan Fugen, the owner of the rabbit, among about 1,000 suicide rabbits, 400 individuals have dog bites on them and the remaining 600 individuals do not.

In 2012, in Monterey Bay, thousands of Jumbo squid suddenly rushed to shore. Many people tried to save the squid by bringing them back to the sea but then they continued to rush to shore.

Or recently, many mother dolphins in Taiji, Japan committed suicide because they had to leave their beloved child. The mother dolphin when she saw the murdered or dragged child constantly beat her head on the glass of the aquarium or stopped breathing because of grief.

Explain the science of this mysterious phenomenon

Most experts say that animals are not able to commit suicide for social reasons like humans, but all are temporary neurological disorders that lead to uncontrollable action.

There are many factors affecting neurology such as illness, injury, old age or disorientation in space. Experts believe that there are many cases of self-stranded fish because they chase prey to too close to the shore and fall into dangerous shallow waters. However, many mass suicide cases of fish in the sea are related to red tide phenomenon .

Red tide is one of the causes of mass suicide in animals

Red tide is the phenomenon of marine algae reproducing rapidly in water, causing water to become red and green. In the process of rapid replication, algae also create dangerous toxins, many toxin components capable of paralyzing the nervous system very strongly.

In many cases of suicide marine animals, scientists found in their bodies the domoic acid inherent in toxic algae. This substance causes neurological paralysis, loss of orientation and crashing into the shore.

In the story with rabbits, animal experts explain that hundreds of rabbits have killed themselves because of . fear. Accordingly, animals also have certain emotional states. When they fall into panic or mistreatment, their nervous system is disordered, leading to uncontrolled actions. Along with that is the common herd psychology, which makes when an individual commits suicide that will lead to the same behavior of many fellow beings.

Or the case of continuous suicide dog in Overtoun bridge is due to the stimulation of mink Vizon . Around the Overtoun Bridge, there are a lot of Vizon weasels living, this animal gives off a scent that makes dogs very excited. As a result, many dogs have jumped over the railing because of their nose.

In addition, many species have the habit of self-injuring themselves when being abused by humans. This behavior is due to negative effects such as stress, isolation, fear, disease, malnutrition and depression for a long time.

The zoo bird when starved can self-prune their feathers to death. Primate animals can bite into arteries to kill themselves, or most notably, bears in farms that take suicide.

The reason is that bears are locked in cramped iron cages, there is no place to walk, they have a hole in their abdomen to get their bile, so sometimes, the wound has not closed this mouth causing many bears to be infected disease, including malignant neoplasms, cancer and peritonitis. As a result, many bear farms in China and Vietnam often suffer from fasting bears.

For some animals, such as termites, scorpions ., some biologists think that they themselves are born with "suicide genes" . The search for death in certain circumstances is like a genetic instinct from one generation to another with natural selection, so that it is most beneficial for the race.

Besides, some scientists have hypothesized that mass suicide of animals is related to their ability to predict disasters . Animals that find themselves unsuitable will commit suicide so that other children can survive, helping the race to overcome scary dangers.

However, the mechanism that leads to the collective suicide of these animals and that action is really "conscious" is still a mystery so far.