would be inclined to help one another; that at least benefits one’s own species. However, what would drive one species to help an entirely different species, one they have no particular need for or relationship with? Indeed, one they might even compete with or, in different circumstances, prey upon? Here are a few news stories that show that compassion comes naturally to many species, and that humans are not the only animals who will help other species and even risk their own lives to save someone else.
Who Is the Walrus?
New York Times , May 28, 2008
“Scientists are gathering evidence that[walruses are] the most cognitively and socially sophisticated of all pinnipeds. . . . Evidence suggests that the bonds between walruses are exceptionally strong: the animals share food, come to one another’s aid when under attack and nurse one another’s young, a particularly noteworthy behavior given the cost in energy of synthesizing a pinniped’s calorically rich, fatty milk.”
Best Mates, the Baby Kangaroo
and the Wonder Dog That Saved It
Daily Mail , March 31, 2008
“By all accounts the baby kangaroo should have not survived the road accident that claimed its mother . . . but then along came Rex the wonder dog. The pointer discovered the baby roo, known as a joey, alive in the mother’s pouch and took it back to his owner. . . .
“The four-month-old joey’s mother was killed by a car. . . in Torquay, Victoria, Australia. Amazingly, the 10-year-old dog — a cross between a German shorthaired and wirehaired pointer — had been so tender with the joey that it was both calm and unmarked.
“‘The joey was snuggling up to him, jumping up to him and Rex was sniffing and licking him — it was quite cute,’[the owner] said.
“The joey. . . is now being cared for at Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary. . . . Director Tehree Gordon said she was amazed by the trusting bond between the two animals. . . . ‘That Rex was so careful and knew to bring the baby to his owners, and thatthe joey was so relaxed and didn’t see Rex as a predator, is quite remarkable.’”
Podmates Aided Dying Whale in Its Last Days
Honolulu Advertiser , May 27, 2009
“A pygmy killer whale that beached itself on Maui this month had been escorted for three weeks by a pod of pygmy killer whales, giving marine biologists a rare peek into how the cetaceans cared for one of their own before its death.
“Four or five pygmy killer whales had surrounded their 300-pound, seven-to eight-foot, male podmate and appeared to be flipping on their sides and backs to support the struggling mammal, scientists said.
“When it grew weaker and came closer to McGregor’s Beach, the pygmy killer whales broke off one by one over the next several days and headed back out to the open ocean, where they live year-round in deep Hawaiian waters. . . . It was the first time that marine biologists had documented such ‘pre-stranding, milling behavior’ in pygmy killer whales around Hawai’i.
“ ‘We don’t know so much about pygmy killer whales,’[one scientist] said. ‘So it was very interesting for us to see this very highly evolved social behavior surrounding the care of this one individual by the other whales.’”
The Amazing Moment Mila the Beluga Whale
Saved a Stricken Diver’s Life
Daily Mail , July 29, 2009
“It looks like a moment of terror — a diver finds her leg clamped in the jaws of a beluga whale. In fact, it was a stunning example of an animal coming to the rescue of a human life.
“Yang Yun, 26, was taking part in a free diving contest without breathing equipment among the whales in a tank of water more than 20ft deep and chilled to Arctic temperatures. She says that when she tried to return to the surface, she found her legs crippled by cramp from the freezing cold. At that point Mila the beluga took a hand, or rather a flipper.
“ ‘We suddenly saw the girl being pushed to the top of the pool with her leg in Mila’s
Who Is the Walrus?
New York Times , May 28, 2008
“Scientists are gathering evidence that[walruses are] the most cognitively and socially sophisticated of all pinnipeds. . . . Evidence suggests that the bonds between walruses are exceptionally strong: the animals share food, come to one another’s aid when under attack and nurse one another’s young, a particularly noteworthy behavior given the cost in energy of synthesizing a pinniped’s calorically rich, fatty milk.”
Best Mates, the Baby Kangaroo
and the Wonder Dog That Saved It
Daily Mail , March 31, 2008
“By all accounts the baby kangaroo should have not survived the road accident that claimed its mother . . . but then along came Rex the wonder dog. The pointer discovered the baby roo, known as a joey, alive in the mother’s pouch and took it back to his owner. . . .
“The four-month-old joey’s mother was killed by a car. . . in Torquay, Victoria, Australia. Amazingly, the 10-year-old dog — a cross between a German shorthaired and wirehaired pointer — had been so tender with the joey that it was both calm and unmarked.
“‘The joey was snuggling up to him, jumping up to him and Rex was sniffing and licking him — it was quite cute,’[the owner] said.
“The joey. . . is now being cared for at Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary. . . . Director Tehree Gordon said she was amazed by the trusting bond between the two animals. . . . ‘That Rex was so careful and knew to bring the baby to his owners, and thatthe joey was so relaxed and didn’t see Rex as a predator, is quite remarkable.’”
Podmates Aided Dying Whale in Its Last Days
Honolulu Advertiser , May 27, 2009
“A pygmy killer whale that beached itself on Maui this month had been escorted for three weeks by a pod of pygmy killer whales, giving marine biologists a rare peek into how the cetaceans cared for one of their own before its death.
“Four or five pygmy killer whales had surrounded their 300-pound, seven-to eight-foot, male podmate and appeared to be flipping on their sides and backs to support the struggling mammal, scientists said.
“When it grew weaker and came closer to McGregor’s Beach, the pygmy killer whales broke off one by one over the next several days and headed back out to the open ocean, where they live year-round in deep Hawaiian waters. . . . It was the first time that marine biologists had documented such ‘pre-stranding, milling behavior’ in pygmy killer whales around Hawai’i.
“ ‘We don’t know so much about pygmy killer whales,’[one scientist] said. ‘So it was very interesting for us to see this very highly evolved social behavior surrounding the care of this one individual by the other whales.’”
The Amazing Moment Mila the Beluga Whale
Saved a Stricken Diver’s Life
Daily Mail , July 29, 2009
“It looks like a moment of terror — a diver finds her leg clamped in the jaws of a beluga whale. In fact, it was a stunning example of an animal coming to the rescue of a human life.
“Yang Yun, 26, was taking part in a free diving contest without breathing equipment among the whales in a tank of water more than 20ft deep and chilled to Arctic temperatures. She says that when she tried to return to the surface, she found her legs crippled by cramp from the freezing cold. At that point Mila the beluga took a hand, or rather a flipper.
“ ‘We suddenly saw the girl being pushed to the top of the pool with her leg in Mila’s
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