Why You're Wrong About the Rhinos – Part 2

Part 2. How we respond to other creatures – love some here, kill some there

This section is about the relationship of humans towards animals (as far as what animals think of humans is concerned is something only they are in a position to answer!)

You are probably not alone. Somewhere around you is a bug. Your response to bugs will probably be fairly standard – kill the damn thing! This is understandable. After all, you don’t pay out good money on a mortgage or rent in order to support a bunch of disease-laden, sting-carrying, creepy crawlies: even worse if you consider bigger vermin such as mice or rats! You may, however, feel perfectly at home caring for Rex, Sylvester or Tweety.

Our attitude to the animals in our environment is, on the face of it, ambivalent: we love some and hate others. Indeed, some humans do keep rats and mice as welcome guests in their homes, buy them expensive cages and toys and help them have babies. Others still keep roaches, spiders and all manner of animals that would be most likely eagerly exterminated by the alarmed neighbours. But the question of why we should care for anything other than our species is rarely asked? And why is it that some are cared for and not others? Our behaviour, in these regards, is therefore illogical, until you introduce the feelings humans have for animals. Some humans, of course, cannot abide pets, or any animals at all for that matter – this is called biophobia and would ordinarily be linked to a psychological imbalance of some sort.

The keeping of pets, therefore, is a silly and sentimental thing. We do it, and have done it for a very long time, because it is difficult not to respond to the in-built desire to care, something we call the mammalian or parental care instinct. We are also fascinated by the affectionate responses of the animals themselves (although quite how a roach responds to kisses is a question unlikely to be easily answered). We just love caring for things, and will surround ourselves with lovely cuddly toys should the real deal be unavailable. This instinct is also seen in many other mammals and is reported largely in the form of anecdotal evidence, such as in the way a captive chimpanzee might make a pet of a puppy or kitten, or in the way a she elephant may assist a rhino calf trapped in mud, even while being charged by the rhino’s mother.

All of this means two things: first, we cannot help loving animals – it’s in our nature, and secondly, we keep these animals in the same way we keep potted plants on our windowsills: one way or another, they are our entertainment. Sadly, like forms of entertainment, they can quickly go out of fashion. Each year millions of abandoned strays are left to die upon the streets, or conveniently dispatched in the loving euthanasian embrace of government vet. Of course, a true animal lover would not abandon their charge, but different folks do different things to different animals. Things get particularly messy when it comes to dinnertime, both theirs and ours, which I will come to in parts 3 and 4.

Perhaps other animals, such as those kept in zoos, circuses and menageries, fall into the more obvious ‘entertainment’ category. Until recently, the keeping of such exotics as lions, camels and elephants was a de rigueur luxury afforded only by monarchs, dictators, presidents and those with the need to impress. For centuries hard-earned money was given over for the pleasure of gawping at imprisoned animals. After all, without spending a fortune in travel, it was the only opportunity to see these creatures alive: in general, zoo animals, whilst not pets, were often seen as somehow more accessible and therefore acceptable. Only in recent times has opinion turned concerning these captive beings, with many seeing little benefit in the pain and suffering of beasts who had the misfortune one time to be ensnared. The business of safari parks will be dealt with in part 5.

It is important to bear this in mind when considering man’s historical connection with wild animals in their habitat. It is unlikely that many of us will have actually tracked and hunted in the wilds and wastes, perhaps the only ‘interaction’ of our forebears. It is similarly unlikely many of us will have lived with an elephant, gazelle or rhino in the house – even though they have all, with varying degrees of success, been domesticated. But because of television, we are exposed to the lives of such creatures, can see their habitat destruction and are made aware of the question of their survival. We are much now better acquainted, so much so that despite living in a different continent we find ourselves actually caring about them. Well-meaning people may even willingly ‘adopt’ animals, paying money for the upkeep and veterinary care of creatures they may never meet, although a certificate for the privilege may be popped in the post. It is because of these and other fond sentiments that many find themselves at odds with the whole hunting thing, something I will come back to in parts 5 and 6.

Finally, we have been keen observers of animal behaviour. As previously mentioned, their splendid shenanigans have at least become part of our nighttime TV entertainment in terms of BBC natural world documentaries. We've all seen lions at it, giraffes knocking hell's bells out of each other and orcas chasing one unfortunate sea creature or another towards a bloody end. And we love it: bravo, meerkats, for taking down the snake, the scorpion, etc! But animals have also been a part of our direct experience of human psychology, whether that be in through 'Scientific' observations in the lab or by ethological studies in the field through such work as that done by Dian Fossey on animal 'culture', Ivan Pavlov on conditioning and Konrad Lorenz on imprinting. Animal behaviour has, therefore, helped illuminate our own and in that way alone animals have warranted our attentions.

 

So, we see that human behaviour towards animals is ambivalent; love some, hate some, feel for some, abandon some. We may squish bugs, but love pets, partly because we are attuned to caring, and because they 'love' us back. We enjoy being wowed by the spectacular wild animals stuck in zoos or on TV, and see them as useful tools for looking at ourselves. The next post is about the nasty business of killing animals, why we do it and what that means to us as individuals and as a species.