Why animals never commit suicide, are they more courageous than human beings some of whom do commit suicide?

Answer 1

Because they are driven by instinct rather than emotions.

Answer 2

Not sure if you'd call it "suicide", since that usually evinces some sort of sentient ability on the part of the person committing suicide. That is, in order to commit "suicide", in the human sense, you have to have the ability to be self-aware. Now, do animals perform acts that would would be suicidal if done on a human level? (not saying that animals aren't smart, so all the PETA folks stay off my back about this. Just answering the question.) Yes. Prime example is unexplained "beaching" by whales and dolphins. Other activities that are somewhat self-destructive usually include those surrounding mating, such as salmon swimming upstream to spawn, after which they die, as well as some animals that may fight to the death to secure a mate. So, yes, from a somewhat oblique perspective, animals can commit self-destructive acts that would verge on suicidal, if performed by a human. Hope it helps.

Answer 3

because they do not have an understanding of death, every minute of life is set for survival, there is nothing other than survival to them, they have no knowledge of anything else. Like the concept of bills, taxes, sin, or even baby showers, are unknown to them, so is the concept of what comes after life...there is only life. Same reason that they do not kill for sport but only to eat. and I know that there will be those that say there are some animals that kill and don't eat their prey, this is true but the killing was not the main objective in those situations, sometimes learning play, or protection of their family group or territory was the main objective and the killing was a by-product of that main action. They suffer no regret or remorse for killing another, to them it was all a part of survival. Some animals are injured or otherwise hurt will stop eating until they die, they are not committing suicide though, as they do not know that the end result will be death, they simply have no wish to eat or move because of the pain or sickness associated with it. Death is too high of a philosophical concept for animals to understand..much like babies or mentally unsound people that wander out into traffic.

Answer 4

Actually...I think some animals do commit suicide in a way. Not like we do, however. You won't see a perfectly healthy animal leaping off a building for the sole purpose of ending it's own life.

Anyway...I think the key thing here is not to ask "Why don't animals commit suicide?", but rather "Why DO humans commit suicide?". Amongst the creatures of the animal kingdom, we are the exception, not the norm, at least when it comes to taking one's own life. I believe that we commit suicide because our brains are capable of containing so much more than raw instinct. The depths of emotion that we can feel are extraordinary. It is this capacity to feel so much pain and sadness that allows us to override the basic instinct for survival which is within us. Other animals are much less complex. They don't feel as much emotional pain as we can. They are driven by one thing: to survive. We are driven by something else: to be happy.

Answer 5

Your statement is not true. There are several sea creatures and mammals that are known to commit suicide. Ever here of a whale beaching itself or possibly the lemmings that race over the cliffs. Check your facts.

Answer 6

If animals lived under the same conditions as humans, and had human reasoning capabilities, they would definitely do themselves in.

Answer 7

Because animals have no conscious, most don't suffer of depression, that is the number one cause of suicide.
Some animals actually commit suicide. I knew a dog that stop eating after his owner die...I don't have to tell you, this was a suicide.

Answer 8

Well this gives us more reasons to disgrace such action. If animals didn't do it, we ppl with masterminds and a brain that fully responds commit it??

Answer 9

I wouldn't call anyone a coward if they are terminally ill or otherwise and can make that difficult decision. I personally never seen a cat with Alzheimer's or left partially paralyzed by a drunk driver.

Answer 10

How do we know that they don't? If they did, we certainly wouldn't hear about it on the news. But because we don't hear or know about it doesn't mean that they don't.

Secondly... and I want you to think about this for a while... i can only imagine that it would take courage kill yourself. I would think that it would take a coward to back out of killing himself. Now think on those things.

Answer 11

Animals don't have the same level of consciousness as humans, so they cannot loose their hope because they just don't understand the meaning of hope.