January/February 2008 Alternative Health
The Souls of Animals

Gary Kowalski, a Unitarian Universalist minister, author of The Souls of Animals and a former Seattle resident, tells how animals and humans aren't so different in their ways of grieving, loving and living.

Q. Are animals aware of death?

A. Struggling with the end of life - loss and grief - is one of the traits that makes us human. But we're not the only creatures that ponder death or wrestle with the meaning of our mortality.

Elephants seem to have funerary rituals and will bury comrades that have died in the wild. When they encounter the bleached bones of an elephant that's died, they invariably stop to examine the carcass with their trunk, paying special attention to the skull, perhaps in an effort to identify the individual that's gone. Often elephants carry the bones from one place to another, as thought trying to find a proper "resting place" for the remains.

Cynthia Moss, who's studied elephants in the wild for many years, has observed mothers defending the bodies of their departed young ones against predators who lie in wait. The loss seems to result in all the characteristics we'd call depression, and she reports that the death of a family member can disrupt the social organization for long periods, sometimes permanently.

Q. Can other species experience love?

A. Many birds mate for life, and some are far more faithful than their human counterparts. William Hudson, for example, told the story of riding horseback on the plain and observing two geese in the distance. The one in back was walking. The one in front also walked, but periodically rose into the air, honking at the other with plaintive cries. When Hudson drew near, he saw the whole story. The two were on their winter migration. The goose in the rear was a female who had broken her wing. Her mate refused to abandon her in her hour of need, but was determined to stick by her, even if it meant walking hundreds of miles.

The zoologist Konrad Lorenz says many birds experience love. While their neocortex is fairly small, the limbic system or mid-brain where the emotions are seated is highly developed in avian species. It's not a case of attributing human characteristics to animals. Rather it's a case of recognizing that animal characteristics exist in human beings. Lorenz says that love is widespread in the animal kingdom.

Q. Isn't that anthropomorphism?

A. No, the real mistake is supposing that animals, who share a similar anatomy and nervous system with human beings, would be devoid of any of the higher, more creative or spiritual qualities we associate with humanity. Animals aren't machines. They're our biological cousins. They share most of our DNA, which is to say we have a common evolutionary history, with common behaviors and psychological traits that are the outgrowth of that history.

So many animals are capable of bravery, compassion, loyalty, curiosity and playfulness, as well as negative emotions like panic and aggression. Charles Darwin himself said that whatever difference existed between people and other animals must be a difference in degree rather than any difference in kind.

Q. Why is it important at this time to re-examine how we think about other living beings?

A. For most of human history, Homo sapiens has cultivated a false sense of superiority over other living creatures. In the Biblical tradition, for example, the human race is given dominion over the earth. But now we know our own survival depends on learning to co-exist with the millions of other species who share this planet, who are now threatened with extinction. Restoring a sense of respect for animals is the first step toward acquiring a deepened reverence for the environment on which all life depends.

To learn more about Gary Kowalski, visit www.newworldlibrary.com.