From stress or melancholy, people often harm themselves: some shred themselves with a razor, others burn themselves with cigarettes, and others train until they drop.
But self-harm is not at all a human prerogative. It also exists in the animal kingdom - among our closest relatives, pets and zoo dwellers.
The only difference is that animals harm themselves by other means - teeth, beaks and claws are used.
In humans, the craving for self-destruction is manifested against the background of depression and a depressed state. With animals, things are a little different.
Some hurt themselves from stress, others when they're in pain, says Copenhagen Zoo veterinarian Mads Bertelsen.
“Self-destructive behavior is typical of larger and more developed animals with more intelligence,” says Bertelsen.
Foxes gnaw off their paws
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The fact that foxes, falling into a trap, gnaw off their stuck paws - perhaps one of the most famous examples of self-harm in the animal kingdom.
It's easy to assume that the fox is doing this because he wants to free himself from the trap and run away, but this is not entirely true, explains Bertelsen.
Bertelsen compares a trapped fox to American climber Aaron Lee Ralston. He is known for the fact that in 2003 he independently amputated his arm - he was in the mountains, fell under a landslide, and was crushed by a boulder. In 2010, a film called "127 Hours" was shot - that's how much Ralston spent in stone captivity.
The difference between the fox and Aaron Lee Ralston is that Aaron knew that if he didn't get out of the rubble, he was unlikely to survive. The fox cannot look into the future, Bertelsen notes.
“She chews off her paw in pain, it's a simple reaction,” he said.
Monkeys tear wool from stress
Another example of animals that harm themselves when stressed are monkeys.
Humanoid primates such as chimpanzees begin to snatch six from themselves if they find themselves alone in a cramped and dull cage.
Grooming among great apes is a social activity, but under unfavorable conditions, its complete opposite becomes stereotypical behavior.
Stereotypical behavior is when an animal, most often under the influence of stress, takes the most typical actions to the extreme. In the most extreme cases, this obsessive-compulsive behavior results in self-harm.
Mads Bertelsen explains that with repeated actions, small doses of endorphin are produced and the animal calms down.
Endorphins are addictive, and monkeys in some cases continue to pull their fur, even after the original source of stress or upset has long been eliminated.
When the monkey is anxious or nervous, repetitive actions such as hair pulling can provide some relief. In some cases, the animals get so carried away that then they go naked, because the new wool will not grow back in any way.
Elephants head banging toothache
From exotic countries, Bertelsen has heard a lot about elephants who bang their heads against the wall when they have a toothache.
This helps relieve pain from an inflamed tooth.
“The same mechanism works here as in people when they rub their skin after a blow, trying to drown out the dull aching pain,” explains Mads Bertelsen.
Sometimes it looks intimidating, but stereotypical behavior for animals is one of the ways to overcome anxiety and stress.
Rex combing bites to make things worse
However, not only exotic animals know how to harm themselves. Take a regular dog, for example. If your Rex gets bitten by fleas, he will scratch and comb the bite until a wound forms.
Like a fox caught in a trap, he only cares about the pain of the bite, and he does not understand that his actions only aggravate the situation.
“It's like people combing mosquito bites,” says Mads Bertelsen. "You scratch and scratch until the wound forms, and then it will take longer to heal than just a bite."
Birds pluck feathers
You may have heard that parrots pull out their feathers. This lesson sometimes ends with bald patches through which the skin is visible.
And this is quite a common phenomenon: about 10% of poultry, finding themselves without a partner, pull out their feathers - from stress and loneliness.
In nature, parrots live in pairs or flocks, and therefore, being alone, they often begin to pull out their feathers from boredom.
“Animals harm themselves unconsciously. This is a side effect, a consequence of other problems,”concludes Bertelsen.
Nanna Bliksted Lange
