Donkeys in Sudan are so miserable, they end their own lives.

It’s a perplexing thought. That only intelligent life can have the ability to end itself. It’s an idea, though, that we all instinctively accept. Yet, a few weeks ago, journalist Manu Pubby reported that Indian soldiers who are part of the UN peace-keeping force in Sudan, are grappling with the problem of overworked donkeys choosing to end their miserable lives. “A donkey (still tethered to the water cart that it was pulling), ran towards the
Nile. As he approached the banks, he plunged into the river and moved towards the current. And the strong current of the mighty river swept it to a watery grave,” reported Major Shambhu Saran Singh. Another donkey there preferred to be beaten to death by its master than continue with its wretched life. In fact, doctors in Sudan have advised that the cure for suicidal donkeys is human kindness, rest and a grain diet.
   While this phenomenon is disturbing and makes us wonder how we can be so cruel as to make donkeys end their own lives, not everybody believes that animals are capable of suicide. “It’s a load of bull. I know enough about animals to say that they cannot commit suicide,” says Bittu Sehgal, editor of Sanctuary magazine. Shirin Merchant, a behaviour counsellor and canine trainer for the past thirteen years says, “I have seen dogs with obsessive compulsive disorders and dogs who go into depression but have never encountered a suicide case.” Isaac Kehimkar of Bombay Natural History Society insists that suicide is a human concept.
   Dr V N Appaji Rao, Vice-Chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India, says animals do not have the ability to store memory of events to derive the judgement that their lives suck. He presents an interesting evidence—our literary past. “There is no evidence in literature regarding animal suicide,” he says.
   The founder president of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Ingrid Newkirk, responded to an email questionnaire by saying, vaguely, “What we know is that Jacques Cousteau talked of captive dolphins deliberately killing themselves in aquarium tanks by ramming their heads at speed into the walls.”
   Our traditional view of animals is changing fast. It is widely accepted today that animals love, hate, get hurt, and even exhibit some sort of personality traits. But it is not clear if they will choose to kill themselves.
Jigeesha Thakore, secretary of the All India Animal Welfare Association, says that she has thought about the issue very deeply. She has observed old dogs leaving their known territory and going to a secluded place when they near their end. But does this signify a certain awareness of life and death? Probably such dogs merely follow their primal instincts to seek out the safety of isolation when they are too weak to survive in the open. That they will eventually die is a fact they are unaware of.
   But there are dog lovers who are full of disturbing stories. Abodh Aras, CEO of Welfare for Stray Dogs, an NGO, says, “I know of perfectly healthy dogs who stopped eating for over a week after they were abandoned, and were later found dead. Like human beings, animals also get separation anxiety.” Dr Jagdishchandra Punetha, director of World Wildlife Fund in Maharashtra, says, “Animals have suicidal tendencies. They have emotions and are capable of being depressed. Animals are closer to nature and sudden changes can make them kill themselves. I come from Himachal Pradesh where ponies are a popular mode of transport. Sometimes if owners ill-treat them, they just stare with their sad eyes, sit down and die. They cannot communicate but they understand our facial expressions.”
   Dr Umesh Karkare, founder member of the Pet Practitioners Association of Mumbai whose clinic treats canines of Mumbai’s rich, says, “Whales know what they’re doing when they beach themselves. So suicide is a possibility. I have heard that Chhatrapati Shivaji’s dog had jumped into the funeral pyre when (the remains of) Shivaji was being burned.”
   Every observation of those who believe animals can be driven to suicide can be countered by science. There is a difference between fatal actions and the knowledge that a set of actions will lead to death. It is not clear, at the moment, if animals are aware of the concept of death. But then it is also not clear why a donkey in Sudan will fling itself, with its cart, into the turbulence of the Nile.

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