I'd like to tell you today about an orca named Tahlequah. Tahlequah is also known as J35 to scientists, because she swims with the J Pod in the Salish Sea. These are the waters off of British Columbia and Washington State.
Htela bih da vam danas pričam o orki po imenu Talekva. Talekva je naučnicima takođe poznata kao J35, jer pliva zajedno sa jatom J u Sališkom moru. To su vode koje se protežu kroz Britansku Kolumbiju i državu Vašington.
Now, last year, in July 2018, she was well along in her 17-month pregnancy, and scientists were very excited because no baby had survived in this pod for three long years. Now, orcas are also known as killer whales. They're profoundly social and profoundly intelligent beings. And scientists are very interested in their behavior, because in their social networks, they share habits, information and even affection. They create true cultures of the ocean. But this pod has been in trouble. The Chinook salmon that the orcas favor has been way down in the region, and pollution has been up. But on July 24th, Tahlequah gave birth to a daughter, and scientists were so excited by this development. But unfortunately, the same day -- in fact, shortly after birth -- the calf died.
Prošle godine, u julu 2018, već je bila u poodmakloj fazi 17-mesečne trudnoće i naučnici su bili vrlo uzbuđeni jer nijedna beba nije preživela u ovom jatu tri duge godine. Orke su takođe poznate i kao kitovi ubice. Oni su izuzetno društvena i inteligentna bića. Naučnici su veoma zainteresovani za njihovo ponašanje jer u okviru svojih društvenih mreža razmenjuju navike, informacije, pa čak i privrženost. Oni stvaraju istinske kulture okeana. Ali ovo jato je bilo u nevolji. Količina kraljevskog lososa, kojeg orke vole, znatno je opala u regionu, a zagađenost se povećala. No, 24. jula je Talekva rodila ćerku i naučnici su se mnogo radovali takvom razvoju događaja. Nažalost, istog dana - zapravo, ubrzo nakon porođaja - mladunče je uginulo.
Well, what happened next electrified animal lovers across the world, because Tahlequah refused to let her baby slip off into the water. She kept it on her body and she swam with it. If it did fall off, she would dive and rescue it, and she battled stiff currents to do this. Now, she kept this behavior up for 17 days, and during this time, she swam over 1,000 miles. At that point, she let the little baby slip off into the water.
Sledeće što se dogodilo naelektrisalo je ljubitelje životinja širom sveta, jer je Talekva odbila da dopusti da njena beba sklizne u vodu. Držala ju je na svom telu i plivala sa njom. Ako bi joj ispala, zaronila bi i spasila je, a borila se protiv jakih struja pri tome. Nastavila je da se tako ponaša 17 dana, i za to vreme je preplivala više od 1 600 kilometara. U tom trenutku je pustila bebu da sklizne u vodu.
So today, Tahlequah swims on with the J Pod, but her grief still moves me. And I do believe that "grief" is the right word to use. I believe that grief is the right word to use for numerous animals who mourn the dead. They may be friends or mates or relatives. Because these visible cues, these behavioral cues, tell us something about an animal's emotional state. Now, for the last seven years, I've been working to document examples of animal grief -- in birds, in mammals, in domesticated animals and in wild animals -- and I believe in the reality of animal grief.
Danas Talekva i dalje pliva sa jatom J, ali njena žalost me još uvek pogađa. I zaista verujem da je „žalost“ prava reč koju treba koristiti. Verujem da je žalost prava reč koju treba koristiti za brojne životinje koje oplakuju mrtve. One mogu biti prijatelji, partneri ili srodnici. Jer ti vidljivi znaci, te naznake u ponašanju, govore nam nešto o emocionalnom stanju životinje. Proteklih sedam godina radim na beleženju primera žalosti kod životinja - kod ptica, sisara, kod pripitomljenih i divljih životinja - i verujem da je njihova žalost stvarna.
Now, I say it this way because I need to acknowledge to you right up front that not all scientists agree with me. And part of the reason, I think, is because of what I call the "a-word." The a-word is anthropomorphism, and historically, it's been a big deterrent to recognizing animal emotions. So, anthropomorphism is when we project onto other animals our capacities or our emotions. And we can all probably think of examples of this. Let's say we have a friend who tells us, "My cat understands everything I say." Or, "My dog, he's so sweet. he ran right across the yard this morning towards a squirrel, and I know he just wants to play." Well, maybe. Or maybe not. I'm skeptical about claims like those. But animal grief is different, because we're not trying to read an animal's mind. We're looking at visible cues of behavior and trying to interpret them with some meaning.
Kažem to tako jer moram unapred da vam priznam da se ne slažu svi naučnici sa mnom. Deo razloga je, rekla bih, nešto što ja zovem „reč na a“. Reč na a je antropomorfizam, i to je oduvek u velikoj meri bila prepreka za prepoznavanje emocija kod životinja. Dakle, antropomorfizam je kada na druge životinje projektujemo naše sposobnosti ili naše emocije. Verovatno se svi možemo setiti primera ovoga. Recimo da imamo prijatelja koji nam kaže: „Moja mačka razume sve što kažem.“ Ili: „Moj pas je tako sladak. Jutros je trčao po dvorištu prema veverici, i znam da samo hoće da se igra.“ Pa, možda. Ili možda ne. Skeptična sam u vezi sa takvim tvrdnjama. Ali žalost je kod životinja drugačija, jer ne pokušavamo da čitamo misli životinja. Gledamo vidljive znakove ponašanja i pokušavamo da ih protumačimo dajući im neki smisao.
Now, it's true -- scientists often push back at me, and they'll say, "Ah, look, the animal might be stressed, or maybe the animal's just confused because his or her routine has been disrupted." But I think that this overworry about anthropomorphism misses a fundamental point. And that is that animals can care very deeply for each other, maybe they even love each other. And when they do, a survivor's heart can be pierced by a death. Let's face it: if we deny evolutionary continuity, we are really missing out on embracing part of ourselves. So yes, I believe in the reality of animal grief, and I also think that if we recognize it, we can make the world a better place for animals, a kinder place for animals.
Istina, naučnici mi često protivreče i kažu: „Vidi, životinja je možda pod stresom, ili je možda samo zbunjena jer joj je poremećena rutina.“ Ali mislim da ova preterana briga zbog antropomorfizma previđa suštinsku stvar. A to je da životinje mogu izuzetno brinuti jedna za drugu, možda se čak i voleti. A kada je to slučaj, smrt može probosti srce preživelog. Priznajmo: ako poričemo evolutivni kontinuitet, propuštamo da prihvatimo deo samih sebe. Dakle, da, verujem da je žalost kod životinja stvarna i takođe mislim da, ako je prepoznamo, možemo učiniti svet boljim mestom za životinje, prijatnijim prema životinjama.
So let me tell you a little bit more about animal grief. I'm going to start in Kenya. You see here there's an elephant named Eleanor who came one day with bruised legs, and she collapsed. You see on the left that another female named Grace came to her right away and, using her own trunk, propped her up, tried to get her up on her feet. And she did succeed, but then Eleanor collapsed again. At this point, Grace became visibly distressed, and she prodded the body, and she vocalized. Eleanor collapsed again, and unfortunately, she did die. What you see on the right is a female from another family named Maui, who came after the death, and she stayed at the body. She held a vigil there, and she even rocked in distress over the body. So the scientists watching the elephants kept close observation on Eleanor's body for seven days. And during those seven days, a parade of elephants came from five different families. Now, some were just curious, but others carried out behaviors that I really believe should be classified as grief.
Da vam kažem nešto više o žalosti kod životinja. Počeću u Keniji. Vidite ovde slonicu po imenu Elenor koja se jednog dana pojavila sa modricama po nogama i srušila se. Vidite na levoj strani da joj je odmah prišla druga ženka po imenu Grejs i poduprla je pomoću svoje surle, u pokušaju da je podigne na noge. I uspela je, ali se Elenor onda ponovo srušila. U ovom trenutku je Grejs postala vidno uznemirena, gurala je telo i proizvodila zvuke. Elenor se ponovo srušila, i nažalost, uginula je. Ono što vidite na desnoj strani je ženka iz druge porodice po imenu Maui koja je došla nakon što je uginula i ostala je uz telo. Tu je držala bdenje, a čak se i ljuljala od bola nad telom. Naučnici koji su posmatrali slonove pomno su gledali Elenorino telo sedam dana. Tokom tih sedam dana, došla je parada slonova iz pet različitih porodica. Neki su samo bili radoznali, ali drugi su ispoljavali ponašanja za koje zaista smatram da se mogu svrstati kao žalost.
So what does grief look like? It can be rocking, as I said, in distress. It can also be social withdrawal, when an animal just takes himself or herself away from friends and stays by themselves, or a failure to eat or sleep properly, sometimes a depressed posture or vocalization. It can be very helpful for those of us studying this to be able to compare the behavior of a survivor before death and after death, because that increases the rigor of our interpretation. And I can explain this to you by talking about two ducks named Harper and Kohl.
Kako žalost izgleda? To može biti ljuljanje, kao što rekoh, od tuge. Može biti i društveno povlačenje, kada se životinja samo udalji od prijatelja i ostane nasamo, ili ne može da jede i spava kako treba, a ponekad i depresivno držanje ili oglašavanje. Za nas koji izučavamo ovo može biti veoma korisno da uporedimo ponašanje preživelog pre smrti i nakon smrti, jer to poboljšava tačnost naših tumačenja. To vam mogu objasniti kroz priču o dvema patkama po imenu Harper i Kol.
So we're into birds now. So Harper and Kohl were raised at a foie gras factory, and they were treated cruelly. Foie gras does involve force-feeding of birds. So this hurt their bodies, and their spirits were not in good shape, either. But thankfully, they were rescued by a farm sanctuary in upstate New York. And for four years, they stabilized, and they were fast friends. They often took themselves to a small pond on the property. Then, Kohl started to have really intractable pain in his legs, and it was clear to the sanctuary that he had to be euthanized humanely, and he was. But then the sanctuary workers did a brilliant thing, because they brought Harper to the body to see. And at first, Harper prodded the body of his friend, but then he laid himself over it, and he stayed there for over an hour with his friend. And in the weeks after, he had a hard time. He would go back to that same pond where he had been with Kohl, and he didn't want any other friends. And within two months, he died as well.
Dakle, sad smo prešli na ptice. Harper i Kol su uzgajani u uzgajivačnici za "foa gra" i prema njima je okrutno postupano. "Foa gra" podrazumeva prisilno hranjenje ptica. Tako da je to škodilo njihovom telu, a ni njihov duh nije bio u dobrom stanju. Ali, na sreću, spašeni su na farmerskom utočištu u Njujorku. Tokom četiri godine su se stabilizovali i brzo sklopili prijateljstvo. Često su odlazili do malog jezera na imanju. Zatim je Kol počeo da dobija vrlo uporne bolove u nogama i utočištu je postalo jasno da nad njim mora biti izvršena humana eutanazija, i to su i uradili. Ali onda su radnici u utočištu učinili sjajnu stvar, jer su doveli Harpera da vidi telo. Harper je u početku gurao telo svog prijatelja, ali onda je legao preko njega i ostao tu sa svojim drugom više od jednog sata. U nedeljama koje su usledile, bilo mu je teško. Vratio bi se na to isto jezero gde je odlazio sa Kolom i nije želeo druge prijatelje. U roku od dva meseca je i on uginuo.
Now, I'm happy to say that not all grieving animals have this sorrowful outcome. Last summer, I flew to Boston to visit my adult daughter, Sarah. I was with my husband Charlie. I really needed a break from work. But I succumbed, and I checked my work email. You know how that is. And there was a communication about a dejected donkey. Now, as an anthropologist, this wasn't what I expected, but there it was, and I'm glad I read it. Because a donkey named Lena had gone to another farm sanctuary, this one in Alberta, Canada, as the only donkey there, and had trouble making friends for that reason. But she eventually did make friends with an older horse named Jake, and for three years they were inseparable. But the reason the email came was that Jake, at age 32, the horse, had become gravely ill and had to be put down, and this is what was going on. This is Lena standing on Jake's grave. She didn't want to come in at night. She didn't want to come in for food. She didn't want to come in for water. She pawed at the grave, she brayed in distress, and there she stood. So we talked and we brainstormed. What do you do for an animal like this? And we talked about the role of time, of extra love and kindness from people and of urging her to make a new friend. And here's where her trajectory does diverge from that of Harper the duck, because she did make a new friend, and sanctuary workers wrote back and said it worked out well.
Sa zadovoljstvom mogu reći da nemaju sve ožalošćene životinje ovako tužan kraj. Prošlog leta sam letela u Boston da bih posetila svoju odraslu ćerku Saru. Bila sam sa svojim suprugom Čarlijem. Zaista mi je bio potreban odmor od posla. Ali sam podlegla i proverila poslovni imejl. Znate kako to ide. I tu je bila prepiska o potištenom magarcu. Za mene, kao antropologa, to nije bilo ono što sam očekivala, ali tu se našlo, i drago mi je da sam to pročitala. Zato što je magarica po imenu Lina otišla u drugo farmersko utočište u Alberti u Kanadi, kao jedini magarac tamo, i zbog toga je imala problema da nađe prijatelje. Ali na kraju se sprijateljila sa starijim konjem po imenu Džejk i tri godine su bili nerazdvojni. Povod za imejl je nastao kada se konj Džejk, star 32 godine, ozbiljno razboleo i morali su da ga uspavaju, pa se ovo dogodilo. Ovo je Lina koja stoji na Džejkovom grobu. Nije htela da uđe unutra noću. Nije htela da dođe po hranu. Nije htela da dođe po vodu. Kopala je po grobu, njakala u bolu, i tako je tu stajala. Tako smo razgovarali i iznosili ideje. Kako pomoći ovakvoj životinji? Pričali smo o ulozi vremena, dodatne ljubavi i dobrote ljudi, kao i o podsticanju da nađe novog prijatelja. Tu se njena putanja razlikuje od patka Harpera, jer ona jeste našla novog druga i radnici iz utočišta su nam pisali i rekli da se sve dobro završilo.
Now sometimes, scientists supplement observation with hormonal analysis. There's an example of a group of scientists in Botswana, who took fecal material from baboons and compared two different groups. The first group were females who had witnessed a predator attack and lost someone in that attack, and the second group were females who had witnessed an attack but had not lost someone. And the stress hormones were way up in that first group. But here's the thing: the scientists didn't just call them "stressed baboons," they called them "bereaved baboons," and in part, that's because of the observations that they made. For example, this mother-daughter pair were very close, and then the daughter was killed by a lion. The mother removed herself from all her friends, from her grooming networks, and just stayed by herself for weeks -- bereavement -- and she then slowly recovered.
Ponekad naučnici dopunjuju posmatranje hormonskom analizom. Postoji primer grupe naučnika u Bocvani koji su uzimali fekalne uzorke pavijana i upoređivali dve različite grupe. Prva grupa su bile ženke koje su prisustvovale napadu predatora i koje su izgubile nekoga u tom napadu, a druga grupa su bile ženke koje su prisustvovale napadu, ali nisu nikoga izgubile. Hormoni stresa su bili značajno povišeni u prvoj grupi. Ali evo u čemu je stvar: naučnici ih nisu nazvali samo „pavijanima pod stresom“, već „ožalošćenim pavijanima“, što je delimično zbog njihovih zapažanja. Na primer, ova majka i ćerka bile su vrlo bliske, i zatim je lav ubio ćerku. Majka se odvojila od svih svojih prijatelja, od mreže sa kojom je čistila krzno, ostala je sama sa sobom nedeljama - ožalošćenost - i potom se polako oporavila.
So we have bereaved baboons. Will science tell us someday about bereaved bees? Will we hear about frogs who mourn? I don't think so, and I think the reason is because animals really need one-to-one, close relationships for that to happen. I also know that circumstance matters, and personality matters. I have documented cats and dogs who grieve, our companion animals, but I also interacted with a woman who was extremely bothered because her dog wasn't grieving. She said to me, "The first dog in the house has died. The second animal does not seem concerned, the second dog. What is wrong with him?"
Dakle, imamo ožalošćene pavijane. Da li će nam nauka jednog dana govoriti o ožalošćenim pčelama? Hoćemo li čuti za žabe koje oplakuju? Ne bih rekla, a mislim da je razlog tome to što je životinjama zaista potreban vrlo blizak odnos, „jedan na jedan“, da bi se to dogodilo. Takođe znam da su okolnosti važne, kao i ličnost. Dokumentovala sam mačke i pse koji tuguju, naše kućne ljubimce, ali sam takođe komunicirala sa ženom kojoj je izuzetno smetalo što njen pas nije tugovao. Rekla mi je: „Prvi pas u kući je uginuo. Druga životinja, drugi pas, deluje kao da ga se to ne tiče. Šta nije u redu sa njim?“
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And as I listened to her, I realized that this dog was now the only animal in the household, and as far as he was concerned, that was a pretty good deal. So circumstances matter.
Dok sam je slušala, shvatila sam da je taj pas sada jedina životinja u kući, i što se njega tiče, to je bila prilično dobra stvar. Dakle, okolnosti su bitne.
Now, in any case, animals are not going to grieve exactly like we do. We have human creativity. We paint our grief, dance our grief, write our grief. We also can grieve for people we've never met, across space and time. I felt this strongly when I went to Berlin and I stood at the Holocaust Memorial. Animals don't grieve exactly like we do, but this doesn't mean that their grief isn't real. It is real, and it's searing, and we can see it if we choose.
U svakom slučaju, životinje neće tugovati isto kao i mi. Mi imamo ljudsku kreativnost. Slikamo svoju tugu, plešemo je, ispisujemo je. Takođe možemo žaliti zbog ljudi koje nikada nismo upoznali, kroz prostor i vreme. To sam snažno osetila kada sam otišla u Berlin i stajala u Memorijalu žrtvama Holokausta. Životinje ne tuguju isto kao mi, ali to ne znači da njihova tuga nije stvarna. Stvarna je i boli, i možemo je videti ako tako odlučimo.
Now, I've lost both my parents. I lost a very dear friend at a young age from AIDS. I believe most likely most of you here have lost someone. And I have found it a genuine comfort, a solace, to know that we aren't the only beings on this earth who feel love and grief. And I think this is important. I also think we can take this a step further, and we can realize that the reality of animal grief can help us be better and do better for animals. This is already happening with Tahlequah, because the United States and Canada have renewed their talks with greater urgency for how to help the orcas, how to restore the Chinook salmon and how to help with the water pollution. We can also see that if grief is real, there's tremendous plausibility to the notion that animals feel a whole range of things. So we could look at joy, sadness, even hope. And if we do that, here's how we can start to think about the world. We can look at orcas and say, we know they grieve, we know they feel their lives, and we can refuse to confine them to small tanks in theme parks and make them perform for our entertainment.
Ja sam izgubila oba roditelja. U mladosti sam izgubila veoma dragog prijatelja zbog side. Verujem da je verovatno većina vas ovde izgubila nekoga. Pronašla sam istinsku utehu, ohrabrenje, u saznanju da nismo jedina bića na planeti koja osećaju ljubav i žalost. Mislim da je to važno. Takođe mislim da možemo da odemo korak dalje i da možemo shvatiti da nam postojanje žalosti životinja može pomoći da budemo bolji i bolje se ophodimo prema njima. To se već dešava u slučaju Talekve jer su Sjedinjene Države i Kanada sa većom hitnošću obnovile razgovore o tome kako da pomognu orkama, kako da obnove zalihe kraljevskog lososa i kako da pomognu sa zagađenjem vode. Takođe možemo uvideti da, ako je žalost stvarna, ogromna je verovatnoća da životinje osećaju čitav niz stvari. Možemo videti radost, tugu, pa čak i nadu. Ako to uradimo, evo kako možemo početi da razmišljamo o svetu. Možemo pogledati orke i reći da znamo da tuguju, znamo da osećaju svoj život, i možemo odbiti da ih ograničimo na male akvarijume u tematskim parkovima i da ih teramo da nastupaju radi naše zabave.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thank you.
Hvala.
We can look at elephants and say, yes, they grieve, and we can renew our efforts against international trophy hunting and against poaching.
Možemo pogledati slonove, uvažiti da oni tuguju, i možemo obnoviti svoje napore u borbi protiv međunarodnog trofejnog lova i protiv krivolova.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thank you.
Hvala.
And we can look at our closest living relatives, monkeys and apes, and know yes they grieve, they feel their lives, so they don't deserve to be confined in highly invasive biomedical experiments year after year.
I možemo pogledati svoje najbliže rođake, majmune i čovekolike majmune, i znati da oni tuguju, da osećaju svoj život, tako da ne zaslužuju da budu zarobljeni u vrlo invazivnim biomedicinskim eksperimentima iz godine u godinu.
And, you know --
I, znate -
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
the ducks Harper and Kohl, they tell us something too. They help us connect the dots and realize that what we eat affects how animals live. And it's not just foie gras, and it's not just ducks. We can think about pigs and chickens and cows in factory farms, and we can know. I can tell you the science is real that these animals feel, too. So every single time we choose a plant-based meal, we are contributing to reducing animal suffering.
patke Harper i Kol nam takođe govore o nečemu. Pomažu nam da povežemo stvari i shvatimo da ono što jedemo utiče na to kako životinje žive. Ne radi se samo o jelu "foa gra", i nije reč samo o patkama. Možemo da razmislimo o svinjama, pilićima i kravama u industrijskim farmama, i možemo o tome saznati. Mogu vam reći da postoji stvarna nauka o osećanjima i tih životinja. Zato svaki put kada odaberemo obrok od biljaka, doprinosimo smanjenju patnje životinja.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
So yes, I believe in the reality of animal grief. I believe in the reality of animal love, and I think it is time for us humans to recognize that we don't own these things. And when we see that, we have an opportunity to make the world so much better for animals, a kinder world, a gentler world, and along the way, we might just save ourselves, too.
Dakle, da, verujem da je žalost kod životinja stvarna. Verujem u postojanje ljubavi kod životinja i smatram da je vreme da mi ljudi prepoznamo da to nije naša svojina. Kada to uvidimo, imamo priliku da učinimo svet mnogo boljim za životinje, prijatnijim, nežnijim, a usput bismo mogli spasiti i sami sebe.
Thank you so much.
Mnogo vam hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thank you. Thank you. (Applause)
Hvala. Hvala. (Aplauz)