Until recently, humans were thought to be the only species to experience complex emotions and have a sense of morality.
But Prof Marc Bekoff, an ecologist at University of Colorado, Boulder, believes that morals are 「hard-wired」 into the brains of all mammals and provide the 「social glue」 that allow often aggressive and competitive animals to live together in groups.
He has compiled evidence from around the world that shows how different species of animals appear to have an innate sense of fairness, display empathy and help other animals that are in distress.
Prof Bekoff, who presents his case in a new book Wild Justice, said: 「The belief that humans have morality and animals don’t is a long-standing assumption, but there is a growing amount of evidence that is showing us that this simply cannot be the case.」
WOLVES
Wolves live in tight-knit social groups that are regulated by strict rules. If a pack grows too large, members are not able to bond closely enough and the pack disintegrates. Wolves also demonstrate fairness.
During play, dominant wolves will 「handicap」 themselves by engaging in role reversal with lower ranking wolves, showing submission and allowing them to bite, provided it is not too hard.
Prof Bekoff argues that without a moral code governing their actions, this kind of behaviour would not be possible. If an animal bites too hard, it will initiate a 「play bow」 to ask forgiveness before play resumes.
ELEPHANTS
Elephants are intensely sociable and emotional animals. Research by Iain Douglas Hamilton, from the department of zoology at Oxford University, suggests elephants experience compassion and has found evidence of elephants helping injured or ill members of their herd.
In one case, a Matriarch known as Eleanor fell ill and a female in the herd gently tried to help Eleanor back to her feet, staying with her before she died.
In 2003, a herd of 11 elephants rescued antelope who were being held inside an enclosure in KwaZula-Natal, South Africa. The matriarch unfastened all of the metal latches holding the gates closed and swung the entrance open allowing the antelope to escape.
This is thought to be a rare example of animals showing empathy for members of another species—a trait previously thought to be the exclusive preserve of mankind.
DIANA MONKEYS
A laboratory experiment trained Diana monkeys to insert a token into a slot to obtain food. A male who had grown to be adept at the task was found to be helping the oldest female who had not been able to learn how to insert the token. On three occasions the male monkey picked up tokens she dropped and inserted them into the slot and allowed her to have the food.
As there was no benefit for the male monkey, Prof Bekoff argues that this is a clear example of an animal’s actions being driven by some internal moral compass.
CHIMPANZEES
Known to be among the most cognitively advanced of the great apes and our closest cousin, it is perhaps not surprising that scientists should suggest they live by moral codes.
A chimpanzee known as Knuckles—from the Centre for Great Apes in Florida—is the only known captive chimpanzee to suffer from cerebral palsy, which leaves him physically and mentally handicapped.
Scientists have found that other chimpanzees in his group treat him differently and he is rarely subjected to intimidating displays of aggression from older males.
Chimpanzees also demonstrate a sense of justice and those who deviate from the code of conduct of a group are set upon by other members as punishment.
BATS
Vampire bats need to drink blood every night but it is common for some not to find any food. Those who are successful in foraging for blood will share their meal with bats who are not successful.
They are more likely to share with bats who had previously shared with them. Prof Bekoff believes this reciprocity is a result of a sense of affiliation that binds groups of animals together.
直到最近，人類還被認為是唯一能夠體驗複雜情感和擁有道德觀的物種。
但是博爾德科羅拉多州大學的生態學家馬克•別可夫教授認為，道德規範「硬性接入」所有哺乳動物的大腦中，提供了一種「社交粘合力」，使得那些好鬥成性和好競爭的動物可以在群體中和平共處。
他從全世界收集的證據顯示，不同種類的動物似乎都有一種內在的公平意識，表現出同情，幫助其他處於困境中的動物。
別可夫教授在新書《野外正義》中表明了自己的觀點，他說：「認為人類有道德觀而動物沒有，這是一個長期存在的誤解。但現在有越來越多的證據告訴我們，事實並非如此。」
狼
狼生活在一個組織嚴密的社會團體中，受到嚴格規則的約束。如果一個狼群過度擴張，成員之間的聯繫便不夠緊密，狼群就會解體。狼群也會表現出公平性。
在嬉戲中，頭狼會與等級較低的狼進行角色交換，造成自我「妨礙」，順從地讓它們咬自己，當然前提是咬得不狠。
別可夫教授認為，如果沒有一套道德準則來約束它們，這種行為是不可能發生的。如果一個動物咬得太狠，它就要主動「鞠躬」來請求原諒，之後再繼續遊戲。
大象
大象這種動物非常喜歡群居，而且易動感情。牛津大學動物學系的伊恩•道格拉斯•漢密爾頓研究發現大象可以感受同情，另外還發現了證據顯示，大象會幫助象群中受傷或生病的成員。
有一次，一頭名為埃莉諾的母象病倒了，象群裡的一頭母象溫柔地幫助埃莉諾站起來，並一直呆在她身旁直到埃莉諾離世。
2003年，一個由11頭大象組成的象群救了一隻困在位於南非誇祖拉—納塔爾省一個圍場內的羚羊。母象頭領打開圍欄門上所有的金屬插銷，打開入口，讓羚羊逃走。
這被認為是動物對其他物種的成員表現出同情的一起罕見例子——以前這個特性被認為是只有人類才具有的。
黛安娜長尾猴
某實驗室訓練黛安娜長尾猴將一枚代幣放進投幣口以獲取食物。 一個動作熟練的公猴被發現會去幫助沒有學會投幣的一隻最老的母猴。這隻公猴三次撿起她掉下的代幣，把它們塞進投幣口，使她能夠獲取食物。
由於這樣做對公猴沒有任何好處，別可夫教授認為，這是動物行為受到某種內在道德指針導引的一個明顯例子。
黑猩猩
黑猩猩被認為是猿類中認知最發達，也是與人類親緣關係最近的，科學家們表示，它們的生活是遵循一套道德規範的，這一點也許並不會令人驚奇。
一隻名為「指節」的黑猩猩——來自佛羅裡達州的猿類中心——是唯一為人所知的患大腦性麻痺的被俘獲的黑猩猩，這種病讓它的身體和頭腦都患有殘疾。
科學家們發現，群體中其他的黑猩猩都對它另眼相待，它很少遭遇年長雄猩猩的惡意挑釁。
黑猩猩們還表現出一種正義感，那些背離群體行為準則的猩猩會遭到其他成員的攻擊，以示懲戒。
蝙蝠
吸血蝠每晚都需要飲血，不過有些蝙蝠找不到食物也屬常見。那些成功覓得食物的蝙蝠會和不成功的蝙蝠分享。
它們更有可能會與之前把食物分享給它們的蝙蝠分享。別可夫教授認為，這種互惠互利是一種合理加盟感造成的結果，而將動物維繫為群體的正是這種合作感。
（來源：英語學習雜誌）