Following the death of relatives or members of their group, many nonhuman animals act in abnormal ways. From a human perspective, these unusual behaviours, such as staying with the dead for days, can resemble something like grief. But is this a case of projection, or simply in line with decades of scientific research eroding the idea of human exceptionalism? Taking viewers through a series of fascinating examples and studies, this TED-Ed animation brushes up against the edges of our current understanding of grief in nonhuman animals, as well as the ethical implications that these limits have for how we treat animals today.
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Language and linguistics
Do button-pushing dogs have something new to say about language?
9 minutes
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
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Cognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
4 minutes
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Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes
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Animals and humans
Villagers struggle to keep their beloved, endangered ape population afloat
19 minutes
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Animals and humans
Are zoos and natural history museums born of a desire to understand, or to control?
57 minutes
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Ecology and environmental sciences
The tree frog die-off that sparked a global mystery – and revealed a dark truth
15 minutes
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War and peace
A frontline soldier’s moving account of the fabled ‘Christmas truce’ of 1914
12 minutes
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Animals and humans
The wild tale of a young animal keeper, an angry tiger and a torn circle net
10 minutes