Unexplainable

Is animal grief real?

Montag, 17. November 2025 · 26 min

MP3

Shownotes

A dog on its owner’s grave. A killer whale carrying around its dead calf. A goose that isolates when its mate dies. These behaviors in animals may look like human mourning, but should scientists call them "grief"? (First published in 2023)

Guests: Jennifer Vonk (oakland.edu/psychology/faculty-and-staff/vonk), comparative/cognitive psychologist at Oakland University; Jessica Pierce (jessicapierce.net), bioethicist and author of several jessicapierce.net/books about animals; Susana Monsó (susanamonso.com/acerca-de), animal ethicist and a philosopher and author of Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death (press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691260…)

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