Do animals love the way humans do

Question

or do they just mate..like lions look like married couples sometimes even though there is usally more than on female..lol

Answer 1

It depends on the species. I think it's fairly obvious that animals such as insects do not feel love - they don't have a complex enough brain to deal with such emotions. Many 'higher' animals, however, form deep attachments, including exclusive pair bonds. In group-living species, such bonds can be vital to their survival. Grey wolves are a good example - they frequently show affection towards each other, and have been observed to mourn when a member of the pack dies (they cease play for around 6 weeks, and howl often as though calling to the missing individual). They mate for life, and if one of the pair dies, occasionally the other may be so distressed that it stops eating until it too dies. This behaviour can also be seen in their descendants, domestic dogs - I'm sure everyone's heard of cases where a dog whose owner has died has pined away itself. Indeed, anyone who's ever had a pet dog or cat will know that these animals love their human family members.

Anyone who claims that no animals have emotions of any kind has obviously never spent much time around them, or even observed them closely. Emotions are important for survival. When a zebra runs from a lion, that's fear - fear is an emotion. Without it, the zebra would simply stand there and get eaten. A mother animal defending her young clearly has feelings for those young. There is an obvious hatred between certain animals, such as lions and hyenas - they often attack each other on sight, or seek out and kill each other's young, which is clearly not a simple case of fighting over food. It is both ridiculous and incredibly arrogant to suggest that human beings are the only species of all the millions on this planet in which emotions, including love, have evolved.

Answer 2

No way Girl..... Animals are by far better lovers..... they are just more sensitive i guess.... try dating a horse...... you'll loooooove it!!!

Answer 3

Our feelings of love are not based on any logic, they are much more primitive, and many animals share these feelings.

Many species of bird mate for life, and if their partner is killed they will appear to miss them.

Most mammals, however, don't love their partners. Monogamy, one male and one female staying together, is unusual in the mammal world.

Answer 4

The answer is no. Animals don't have "love" feelings for their mates, they only have the desire to mate. They don't care about who it's with. Lions have prides because they like to stick together, but the male mates with many different females. He doesn't "love" any of them, he just has a strong hormonal urge to procreate, and he isn't too picky. (sounds like some men... haha)

The only exception in the whole animal kingdom are seahorses. They actually carefully choose one mate, and stay with that same partner for the rest of their lives. They only mate with each other.

Pretty sweet, huh?  

Answer 5

No they don't, they do not have emotions as human. They love things they like and they they are essential for their live like food water and s*x.

Answer 6

to an extent they do depending on how intelligent the animal is. in order to love like humans do, you have to be able to think logically and all that. because being in love is knowing what you like in someone, and all that stuff, and if your an animal that isnt very intelligent, your thoughts dont go past a certain boundary complex enough to feel love like humans do. they do feel it though, just to an extent as far as their thinking allows them to do so. im not an expert and no one will ever be until they actual feel how it is to be another animal but as far as love goes, thats what you need to be able to categorize your feelings and know what love really feels like. but to even simpler answer your question, they basically more do it because instinct takes over. hope that answered your question.

Answer 7

My cats are both fixed and sometimes I truely think that they love each other. Not 'romantic' love obviously because they don't have that sexual part anymore but maybe the other part of love that humans feel for each other. I believe that they can feel love for their 'family'.

but they also frequently attack each other so who knows lol. They will go from fighting to grooming each other in like 30 seconds it's so cute.

To Jim: Not trying to be childish I just think my cats are cute haha. I never claimed to know anything advanced about biology of animals. Meant it to mean that my cats don't have s*x with each other, they aren't mates. Meant it to mean they are more like brother and sister than husband or wife. Perhaps that makes me childish

Thats why romantic is in little quote thingys just used it for lack of a better word :P

Answer 8

No.  Only humans can love.  Only humans have human emotions.  Animals are clueless when it comes to emotions.  Animals could not survive in the wild if they had human like emotions.

Animals have two primary drives, survival and reproduction.  Usually they survive just to get to the point where they can mate.  They are controlled by their environment.  Changes in the season active particular clues that trigger hormonal changes in the animal.  This effects their behavior.  And yes, very few animals are monogamous.



Edit:  Sorry, but I see some really childish responses.  Romance does not included sexual "parts".  Romance indeed can be sexless.

Very few animals form long term bonds, that's a myth.  The longest bond for most animals is the seasonal mating and rearing of young.

Answer 9

It depends on how the owner of an animal treats it.

Answer 10

Only in part.  The emotional feeling of love is experienced by endorphin release in midbrain structures.  Many vertebrates have the same brain activity when it comes to pair bonding and mating.  But only humans have the higher intellectual capacity to reflect on such feelings.