Can animals kill themselves?

Question

I know this sounds like a really stupid question but ... can a animal actually get depressed and try to kill itself? I would assume that some animals can get depressed, but could they actually commit suicide?

Answer 1

It was once believed that lemmings committed mass suicide by throwing themselves off of cliffs and drowning themselves in herds. However, it was later determined that the poor little rodents ran out of food and went searching for new food sources together and many died in their travels.
Octopi can sometimes suffer from autophagy, or self-cannibalism. That is what is described as "eating its own arms." This is caused by stress. A stressed animal is not a healthy animal and is open to infection. It is believed that it is caused by a virus/bacteria which can manage to take hold on a stressed octopus. The biting is said to be due to irritation and biting alleviates the affected area. An octopus can lose an arm without harm and regrow it. By biting it off, the octopus loses the infected arm and hopefully a healthy one regrows, but in captive situations, probably caused by bad water quality, the infection can't be shaken off. The stressed, infected octopus dies with its arms in tatters.
Suicide involves a conscious decision to end one's own life. Considering that animals are less able to communicate their consciousness, we can never really know if an animal's death was self-inflicted or an unfortunate accident.

Answer 2

The only animal that can and will kill itself are humans. Other animals can have a death which would seem like suicide, such as purposeful beachings of whales onto a shore. The reality is that usually the other whales are following the leader. If their leader is ill it is consequential to the others and they would not expect for their leader to direct them in this way. As for lemmings, they don't commit suicide either. There has been footage of lemmings appearing to commit suicide by running off the edge of a cliff enmass, but the true reality is that they are nearly blind. If their leader heads for the edge of a cliff or toward a rapid river, it isn't suicide, they just can't see the obvious. Animals seek to preserve life and escape if necessary. Sometimes they try to protect their young or are eaten unexpectedly, but they don't want to die anymore than most people would.

Answer 3

I'm not actually sure, but this is an interesting question. I suppose perhaps they can, they have feelings just like humans do. So they can get depressed as well I suppose. But I don't actually know if they can commit suicide.

Answer 4

I know dolphins starve themsleves to death if they are seperated from their mates. I don't know if this could be considered suicide. they give up and do adventually die, but I don't know if they are consciously trying to die.
Gorilla do similair things during depression and can die from it, but since they live in groups they usually stop being depressed before they die. they have other family to live for/with.

I've never heard of a chimp suicide, but I read a study about a chimp who started smoking. people think its funny and throw ciggerates (and from what I heard even joints) into her cage at the zoo. the zoologists are worried about her health. she's had all of her children die and her partners. like a human she got depressed turned to substcnes and her addiction has increased.

you might want to search for animal behavorists reports or just the 'dolphin sucide' concept and see if there are links to similair cases with other animals

Answer 5

Some rattle snakes commit suicide if captured. They bite themselves and they are not immune to their venom that way. A rattle snake handler told me this, I haven't actually seen it. I'm sure that other animals, when stressed, may kill themselves too. But not because they are "depressed." Because they are frantic or in danger, or hurt.

Answer 6

Lemmings can all follow the lead animal right off the cliff. Its not really committing suicide though, you are giving animals too much credit, they dont think like humans.

Answer 7

Depressed... yes.

Commit suicide... no, they lack the know-how.

Commit intentional murder... Yes. There is actually footage of a group of apes that lure one ape into a trap and beat it to death, at the command of an alpha male, and then gather around it's dead body laughing and celebrating their achievement.

Answer 8

No. They lack the intelligence it takes to jump from the frying pan into the fire and they have no concept of eternity. Hey, wait, that's just like a suicidal person!! Okay, animals are smarter than we are. No, they can't kill themselves, no matter who they belong to or what kind of food they have to eat. Wild animals WILL survive and don't get in their way.

Answer 9

Yes, animals can and do cause their deaths. Lemmings are a known example. I know of an old very ill cat who wandered away to die. Clumps of her fur were found near the house, and we suspect she became a meal for a coyote.

Answer 10

Sure, didn't you hear it all the time the whales trying to commit suicide?? (in a group.. happens all the time) But that may not be due to depression, it may be due to environment pollution....