Are humans the only animals known to commit suicide?

Question

Seriously. Do any other animals undergo circumstances that make them kill themselves?

Answer 1

Ohgoodlords people. Stop taking your science information from Walt Disney. Lemmings do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT suicide. They do not throw t hemselves off of cliffs. That was a Disney production w here they paid kids to trap lemmings, then tossed them forcibly over cliffs for the shot.

Lemmings DO experience wild and unpredictable population peaks and crashes, but it's not due to s uicide, biologists have thoroughly investigated that one.

My source? A PhD student in my lab is studying them.

Bee stings - yes, that's suicide by one definition. It's not "Oh gods I hate my life I'm leaving this world," though. It's "The safety of the hive is more valuable than my life."

dolphins and whales - perfectly healthy dolphins and whales have apparently beached themselves despite human intervention, killing themselves. Who knows why?

Answer 2

Nope. Suicide is a path chosen by only one animal. You see it takes an active thought process knowing the out come is the end. No animal other than the human makes self sacrifice. The animalistic urge to survive is primal number one. Next comes reproduction.

Some have thought that whale and dolphin beaching are suicide. But that act is just too out of line with what all wildlife strive for, survival. Especially when it is done by more than one member. We have no idea why those beaching occur. Furthermore, those events could have been going on for millions of years. We will probably never know why whales and dolphins beach.

The real problem has been this continued association of animals with human characteristics.

Answer 3

No, one of the biggest problems for animals in captivity is keeping them from harming themselves. This is achieved by stimulating them, and varying their activities.
I know of no wild animal that has voluntarily harmed itself.
I'm not trying to make a point, but you can't help thinking...

(edit)
Whales probably beach themselves because they become disoriented, ill, or frightened.
Lemmings don't throw themselves off cliffs.
Salmon and Praying Mantis are following a normal lifecycle, designed to perpetuate the species.

Answer 4

Some animals do and its not always clear why they do. A good example are the whales that beach themselves. Sometimes they commit mass suicides. Its not really clear whether its truly intentional or just an error committed by all of them.

Answer 5

I think some animals 'give in' under extreme circumstances, but they just stop fighting, they don't actually cause themselves to die. We appear to be the only species where the survival instinct has become so weak. It think over-population is a possible explanation.
Don't listen to anyone who mentions lemmings, they just get into such huge numbers they blindly run off cliffs, not deliberately.

Answer 6

There have been reported cases of deliberate suicides by dolphins in captivity.

Addendum: Trainers who work with dolphins report such suicides. Here's an excerpt:

Dolphins are capable of imitation and memorization; they demonstrate foresight, learn from observation, communicate experience, solve complex problems, perform elaborate tasks, and learn multiple procedures simultaneously. Their so-called training is in fact a discipline structured around play, using their natural behavior as the basis for involved maneuvers; they appear to perform primarily for their own enjoyment. In situations of great stress in captivity they have been known to commit suicide by starvation, battering against walls, or drowning. There are many reports of dolphins rescuing people from drowning

Answer 7

No my goldfish jumped out of the pond when its buddy died at the paws of the cat. It delibratly left the pond and committed suicide. Now some people may say it was jumping for flies and jumped so high it left the pond but I knew its psycholoical state after its mate came a cropper. It no longer swam with the others. It stopped eating and lingered where its buddy was last swimming happily...I cry for him...

Answer 8

I think it is safe to say that there is no human behavior, no matter how aberrant we consider it to be, that is not also exhibited by animals. This includes war, murder, torture, slavery, rape, homosexuality and many other things that most people seem to think are limited to humans. I assume this includes suicide, although I have not seen or read about that particular one. People have an overly romantic and sanitized view of wild animals that is cause by their lack of contact with actual wildlife.

Answer 9

Don't whales beach themselves from time to time? A female spider, when her eggs are just about to hatch, turns her digestive juices inward and allows them to disolve her insides (thus killing herself) to make a nice meal for the just-about-to-arrive babies. That is suicide with altruism as its motive.

Answer 10

I think large mammels like whales kill themself
What do these experts no,nothing.
Have they ever asked a whale or got an answer. no.
I think many animals may commit harry carri.