The mystery of the collective suicide of animals

A flock of sheep suddenly "joined together" to jump into the abyss, the whole group of dolphins competed to jump on the beach, thousands of rats together plunged into the cold water . If the struggle for survival is the law of life. everything on earth, the phenomenon of some species self-seeking mass death is a strange thing, but so far scientists have not explained thoroughly.

Mystery around the collective suicide of animals

Suicide sheep

On August 26, 2007, in Turkey's eastern province of Van near Iran, thousands of sheep followed the leader to jump into a ravine to . die. A total of 450 children died in the helplessness of shepherds. They jumped from a height of 15 meters into the abyss. These ill-fated sheep then became a rescue cushion for about 1,100 others who also followed. However, they also tried to bang their heads on the cliff to finish their lives.

Collective suicide animals are still a mysterious phenomenon with science

Group suicide whales

In the past decades, in many different parts of the world, people have often witnessed "collective suicides" of dolphins, sharks and especially giant whales on beaches. .

Thousands of fishermen in South and North America, South Ohio, Tasmanian Islands of Australia and Japan . have seen many cases of dozens of whales or dolphins come together to find death, often in the period from December to March every year.

The mysterious phenomenon of suicide animals hurts scientists

The biggest suicide of this marine animal occurred on November 18, 1998, in New Zealand waters, more than 300 dolphins from the ocean plunged into the sand, lying exposed to the curious eyes. period of visitors. The strange thing is that when people try to push them into the water, they just go up, like they purposely want to die. Under the heat of the sun and crushed by the weight of the self, the dolphins were gradually unable to move. Because they could not lift their chest to breathe, they were suffocated after a short time.

In September 2010, environmental workers found nearly 100 pepper whales stranded on the coast of Spirit Bay , 320km northwest of Auckland, New Zealand. About 60 out of nearly 100 whale fish are washed ashore. New Zealand Wildlife Conservation staff then have to call hundreds of volunteers to help bring the surviving fish back to the sea.

Mouse suicide

Collective suicide is not only a strange phenomenon for dolphins or whales but also in rats. Zoologists have noted: In the beginning of May 1995, on a large area of ​​about 10,000 square kilometers in the Xinjiang autonomous region (China), there was a mass suicide. There are big hamsters here, people called "protruding eyes . " They dragged to the ponds and lakes, and each pair of tail-biting men rushed to the water to commit suicide. Just a few days later, at all the lakes and ponds in the area, the body of the mouse floated to the surface.

Collective suicide because of the same kind

In the most natural, strangest world is probably the collective suicide because of the congruence of the termite Globitermes sulfureus . When an ant colony invades the nest, the termite workers react like soldiers who die before the enemy. Starting from the outer guard ring, coming in and out, they simultaneously squeezed the abdominal muscles until the body cracked across the neck, releasing a drop of sticky plastic. Ants get caught in this sticky plastic and die on the spot. Until now, scientists have not determined whether the term is aware of its suicidal behavior , but they have truly sacrificed themselves to protect the lord. This means protecting the species by termite warriors, like other workmen, never spawning.

Dog jumps to suicide

Over the past 50 years, about 50 dogs have jumped into the Overtoun Bridge in Milton, Scotland and died. That makes many people question the mystery of this bridge. Overtoun Bridge was built in 1895, more than 15m from the water. The strange thing is that the dead dogs here dance in the same position.

Pelican disorientation

In 2009, the pelicans in the western coastal US suddenly had strange actions. Some of them stabbed into cars, they crashed into sailboats, others disoriented. Hundreds of children eventually died. Why is there a phenomenon? Scientists do not have an official explanation but they think it may be caused by a virus or weather.

Squid suicide

Massive squid suicide phenomenon in Monterey Bay

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.

Massive suicide birds

The village of Jatinga in India is known to be the place where birds usually die massively between September and November. Hundreds of birds that keep up to sunset are stabbing buildings and trees. Scientists believe that because this bird prefers light, this phenomenon is still controversial.

Try to find the cause

What made some animals come together to find death? Many hypotheses are posed before this collective suicide phenomenon, but not convincingly. For example, with the mass suicide of sheep flocks thousands of children in Turkey most recently. According to Turkey's Radikal daily, the main cause of the case was that the shepherds in Ikizler village for a long time neglected shepherding, so they suffered from hunger and the result was a result. suicide of both sheep. However, this explanation is not widely accepted by the scientific community, because it is thought that no matter what, survival instincts strongly dominate the life of all things.

In Australia, where suicides of marine animals are regularly occurring, a research organization has been set up to find out the cause of this phenomenon. Until now, researchers are still working hard. The Australian federal environmental minister, one of the members of the research group, said : "Collective whale phenomenon occurs quite frequently along the Tasmanian and strait coast connecting Australia with the time. this year, as in New Zealand, but unfortunately until now we still don't know exactly why that happened. "

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.

Folk experience confirms that some species suicide is a warning sign of a big imminent natural danger such as earthquake, tsunami, hurricane . There is a scientific view that This phenomenon is a manifestation of the natural law of ecological equilibrium: elimination of excess exports in a community. Like the suicide of mice in Norway, for example. They were aware of the lack of food, so they voluntarily accepted the death so that the remaining children would not starve to death. However, the mechanism that leads to the collective suicide of these animals and that action is really "conscious " is still a mystery so far.