Do Animals Seek Revenge?

Over the years, we at Giz Asks have asked various aspects of animal behavior and psychology.

And so on. Today, we extend this venerable tradition with a new question, one sure to delight anyone who has ever dreamed about a monkey cackling maniacally as he plots the dismemberment of the monkey who killed his father – that is, why the animal revenge?

Vladimir Dinets Adjunct Lecturer, Zoology, Kean University, whose research focuses on animal behavior Yes, animals do take revenge.

Macaques do it, too, although not directly: if they can not attack the offender because he is stronger, they will hurt someone weaker instead, sometimes our opponent’s relatives.

Also, there are many documented cases of injured animals chasing or ambushing their hunters in situations when it would be more natural for those animals to escape or hide.

In humans, revenge is usually an irrational manifestation of our innate desire for justice, which is also observed in many other primates and has evolved to enable social cooperation.

Some animals known for revenge attacks on hunters are also very social (elephants, for example), but others are not (bears, tigers etc.), so I don’t have a good explanation for their behavior”Macaques also do it. , although indirectly: if they can’t attack the offender because they are stronger, they will hurt someone who is weaker, sometimes it’s a relative who attacks.” Malini Suchak

Associate Professor, Animal Behavior, Ecology and Conservation, Canisius CollegeI have no doubt that many animals engage in reciprocity, which we usually think of as “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” Reciprocity can also extend to negative actions, for example, if someone is a bad cooperator, you can refuse to cooperate with them in the future.

The reciprocity of negative actions is not exactly the same as revenge, which, for me, has a component of moral justification.

While it seems clear that other species have their own moral code and system (for example, capuchins react negatively to unfair situations), the idea of ​​applying revenge to other species concerns me because they think their moral system is the same as ours – they see. the same thing we do as right or wrong.

I often hear people say things like, “I went on vacation and my cat peed on my bed,” which means that the cat knows it’s wrong to pee on the bed, but does it anyway to punish them for leaving.

If the behavior is seen as revenge, the person may punish or resent the cat and probably won’t change things for the next time they go on vacation.

If it is seen as stressful, they can act to reduce the stress when they leave – a win/win for humans and cats.

I think it can actually be harmful to the way we treat other animals to think their actions are revenge, when they likely see the situation very differently. has a moral justification component.

While it seems clear that other species have their own moral code and system (for example, capuchins react negatively to unfair situations), the idea of ​​applying revenge to other species concerns me because they think their moral system is the same as ours – they see. the same thing we do as right or wrong. “Peter Judge Professor of Animal Behavior and Psychology and Director of the Animal Behavior Program at Bucknell University I study non-human primates, specifically a species called pigtail macaques.

They live in large social groups, and they have matrilines – an old matriarch will be her kids, and her kids will be her kids.

When one of these families fights with another family, almost all family members will join in and help.

It can be pretty fierce at times.

On a small level, if someone from family A aggresses against someone from family B, that member of family B will likely later chase someone from family A – chase them, bite them, hit them.

When I learned this, sometimes it would happen later.

Animal A will hit animal B, then animal B will go after animal A’s child.

This behavior is also found in other types of macaques as well – other authors investigated this in Japanese macaques. , quite a lot of family members will join and help.”Stephanie Poindexter

Assistant Professor, Anthropology, SUNY Munding, whose research focuses on the behavioral ecology of primates, among others I study primates, and my answer will be: yes, more or less.

Obviously we can’t know their intentions, because we can’t ask them what they’re trying to do or why they’re doing it.

But in the study of primates in captivity, in social groups in zoos, we have seen that if an individual is attacked in some way, the likelihood of them attacking others related to their aggressor is higher.

(This phenomenon has also been seen in spotted hyenas.) For the most part, this “revenge” action takes place shortly after the attack – I have not seen anything where primates spend an extended period of time plotting revenge on their enemies. .

The nature of life in this hierarchy or group, where there is a dominant male, is fear.

There will be repercussions if he does not behave in the way expected.

There is a large group of monkeys with one male and several females.

In the group, you can see aggressive behavior towards women who deviate during conflicts or big fights with other groups, those women can be punished, because they do not maintain the cohesion of the group – do not move in the right pattern, or behave. in some ways that dominant men do not like.

The goal, here, is to protect the group and maintain power.

But in studies of primates in captivity, in social groups in zoos, we see that when an individual is attacked in some way, the probability of them attacking someone related to the attacker is higher. ask?