do animals ever commit suicide?

[aimless]

do animals ever commit suicide?

[oBWhat]

That is a very interesting question as natural selection has selected animals that want to live and pass on their genes.

There have been many stories and known events of animals committing suicide by not eating and killing themselves in other ways.

The most well known I guess would be the story of the lemming, which is thought to follow a 4-year cycle of increasing population growth until, running out of food, they jump into the ocean and die. Now, scientists agree with the first part, although the second part is debatable.
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Good and interesting question... any more takers?

[admin]

It is interesting that we try and draw parallels to animals for most human behaviours!

I believe many die of starvation after their hearts are broken. This has been well documented by many people. Suicide per se (ie running into a wall to die deliberately) would be harder to prove. It has been documented in dolphins and other animals although there is much to learn...


Good post!

[admin]

any more ideas on this?

[bioinfofreak]

I think they are well behaved for the most part... if they all did then we wouldn't have animals now would we?

I think there are special cases in many species... national geographic should make a documentary on this...