Grief and love in the animal kingdom | Barbara J. King

From mourning orcas to distressed elephants, biological anthropologist Barbara J. King has witnessed grief and love across the animal kingdom. In this eye-opening talk, she explains the evidence behind her belief that many animals experience complex emotions, and suggests ways all of us can treat them more ethically — including every time we eat. "Animals don't grieve exactly like we do, but this doesn't mean that their grief isn't real," she says. "It is real, and it's searing, and we can see it if we choose."

Get TED Talks recommended just for you! Learn more at .

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request here:

Follow TED on Twitter:
Like TED on Facebook:

Subscribe to our channel:

17 Comments on Grief and love in the animal kingdom | Barbara J. King

  1. Yes and some animals are actually loyal and monogamous we could learn from them lately I have learned from the slowness of the sloth another Ted talk video

  2. That was frickin brilliant! Thank you so much.
    I’ve been arguing this point for as long as I remember (literally) & I’m almost 60. That animals are emotional was SO apparent to me as a small child I couldnt understand why everyone else couldn’t see it.
    I’ve never waivered or acted differently since. Indeed, it is the root reason why I have been an embracer of “science” & a constant sceptic. If “science” can get something so basic so wrong (& it’s certainly NOT the first time in history), very little scientific “fact” should be accepted as such.
    Thank you again for making it so clear.

  3. Excellent lecture. This claim that those that see anthropomorphism as an explanation for animal emotions are merely remnants of those in the Middle Ages who in their human arrogance thought that animals were mere automatons and not even conscious. Those that were religious created God in their own human image and beyond that, in their own male human image. Having majored in Philosophy and specialized in Ethics in pre-med I once asked one of my professors in medical school on what ethical principle could we base our experimentation on animals. He could only answer, “Because we can”

  4. Just finished my dissertation on pet and owner relationship. Nonhuman animals are so interesting to study, will probably continue my study on them

  5. Thank you so much for uploading this video in terms of ecosystem.
    In the world, the accident of leaking oil to the ocean had been happened and there are many lives which was dead. As industrial technologies are being developed at this moment, ecosystem has been destroyed and many lives has been jeopardized in death. I had volunteered to clean trashes like cans out of the beach. It was very hard but I felt comfortable because I could get satisfaction of cleaning up.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


Shares
Share This