Scientists discover animals feel emotions just like humans

• Aniya Faulcon
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  Aniya Faulcon is The Spark Host/Producer for WITF. She has a passion for shining a light on unique people, experiences, and perspectives within the community.
  
  Previously she worked as the People and Social Trends Reporter/Video Anchor for LancasterOnline | LNPNews. During her time there, she created video packages, provided Facebook Live coverage at community events, and wrote data-driven stories with census data and feature stories on local leaders, non-profit organizations, events, and people with unique talents and experiences within Lancaster County.
  
  Aniya also worked at WMAR ABC 2 News as a Sales Assistant and at the AFRO American Newspapers as an Executive Assistant and Media correspondent. Aniya interned at WEAA Gospel Grace 88.9 and worked at her alma mater’s radio station, WWPJ at Point Park University, where she gained skills and a passion for radio.
  
  Aniya grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Baltimore School for the arts for high school with a concentration in acting. She continued to hone her skills and passion for storytelling and later graduated from Point Park University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Broadcast Reporting. Aniya is eager to continue her journey with storytelling in her role with WITF, as she aims to shed a light on real people and real stories within Pennsylvania in a variety of mediums.

A photographer takes a picture of an elephant named "Kaavan" waiting to be transported to a sanctuary in Cambodia, at the Maragzar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. Iconic singer and actress Cher was set to visit Pakistan on Friday to celebrate the departure of Kaavan, dubbed the “world’s loneliest elephant,” who will soon leave a Pakistani zoo for better conditions after years of lobbying by animal rights groups and activists. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Airdate: September 29, 2022

After watching recent popular videos on social media of dogs smiling while getting a haircut, laughing hysterically with an owner, or crying on the grave of one of their loved ones, many have wondered if animals can feel emotions just like humans do and to what extent.

In recent studies, scientists have discovered that animals feel empathy, grieve, and seek joy just like us. Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, author of National Geographic’s October cover story on this topic, joined us on Thursday’s Smart Talk to provide some insight on scientists’ findings about animals’ emotions.

Bhattacharjee said humans are animals too, so perhaps other animals aren’t so different from us. Scientists were able to confirm that many animal species share our capacity for feeling emotions through field observations.

According to National Geographic, rats show kindness, monkey’s protest injustice, orcas mourn their dead, Corvids empathize with one another, and so do many other species. Bhattacharjee said, from anecdotal observation he can say that animals emphasize with humans and he suspects there will be evidence coming out soon that shows that animals can empathize with other creatures that are not of their own kind.

“For centuries, we have thought of human beings as being unique and sort of different from the rest of the animal kingdom, which is why there’s been this thinking all along that that animals don’t possess these attributes that we have of being able to feel love, empathy, joy, and so on,” Bhattacharjee said.

With this new found knowledge, that animals can feel emotions like humans do, comes with the question: Is killing animals for food or hunting purposes considered inhumane?

“That’s a question in the back of our minds when we learn about new evidence that shows that animals have the ability to feel emotions, particularly pain and loss,” Bhattacharjee said. “I do think that some of this research is creating a moral force like a like an imperative to at least reconsider how we treat other animals on this planet.”