Can animals commit suicide?

Question

Can animals commit suicide?

Answer 1

yeah, i saw a fly commit suicide the other day. It was walking along my cactus and impaled itself on one of the needles.. then again it could have slipped. Generally animals have that instinct to want to live in order to survive

Answer 2

feeling suicidal is part of the survival instinct in most cases. You feel so low with depression that you dont function properly and find it difficult to survive, so you think that the only way to stop feeling depressed and start to function properly again to survive is to kill yourself. I think animals who feel depressed will just not be able to function properly to find food and so will probably starve to death - if that can count as suicidal

Answer 3

lemmings do all the time

Answer 4

not sure.. but loved pets a lot of them, just go missing when ill ??? not to be seen again...

Answer 5

If you mean suicide as a conscience decision to take its own life then I would have to say no. If you mean they commit an action that accidently causes its death then yes! I.E. my husky severed an artery on her paw by standing on glass. We just managed to save her and her paw was stitched. The little minx had to be sedated as she kept getting out of every head restraint, ripping off the bandage and biting at the stitches until she bled. Animals do not have the capacity for such an intellectual idea of consciously trying to end their lives

Answer 6

Apart from the famous little Lemming throwing themselves off cliffs in the thousands what about the dolphins and whales who often swim onto beaches. Although some are sick and disorientated they are quite intelligent and must have an awareness of the consequences of their actions.

Answer 7

how would an animal commit sucide?  pills?  a gun?

they can get depressed and they can stop eating but it is not a conscious decision to hurt themselves, just an animal reaction.

Answer 8

If you call dieing from a broken heart suicide then yes.  Animals are more likely to die from stupidity (the human's).

Answer 9

LOL!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

thats quite good question lol

Answer 11

Yes. I read in a zoo vets biography once that a dolphin committed suicide by holding its breath. no jokes.