I was at a conference where a term regarding animals was high sentience and low sentience. The word means “consciousness“ and the term is used to describe whether the animal is conscious of his/her surroundings or not. The speaker was of the belief that a cockroach, for instance, was less “ aware“ than a squirrel, a squirrel less aware than a dog and a dog less aware than a monkey. This assumption, based on no scientific rational except the presumption that everything is in pyramidal form with man at the top, makes me very sick. There is no evidence to show that man is in any way more intelligent than an insect – in fact, if you look at the mess we have made of the world, the sickness and pollution we have brought into our own homes , we are stupider than termites – who build multistorey buildings with flats and office space , get food harmoniously, go to war efficiently, look after their young with great care , have no illnesses … in fact they do everything we do , have the same class and caste system and rulers and enemies , and they tackle each problem without making such a hideous mess.
Let us look at how they deal with external pests.
Most animals are plagued by small biting insects such as fleas, lice, mites, ticks and parasites which drain blood, so they have developed a variety of ways to deal with them. Monkeys rub themselves with soothing plants and even insects. Capuchins in Costa Rica, for instance, use the Piper plant, from the chilli family, which contains compounds that deaden pain and kill off insects.Capuchins also rub their fur with millipedes, which make toxic chemicals known as benzoquinones that keep other insects away, as well as killing bacteria. Birds do something similar with a technique called "anting". They lie on an anthill and encourage the ants to crawl into their feathers because they secrete formic which can kill lice, mites and bacteria.
European starlings line their nests with wild carrots to protect themselves from infections. The carrot contains the steroid B-sitosterol which repels mites . This compound is also found in leaves of the Neem tree which house sparrows use to line their nests. We now use Neem for insect repellent as well.
Let us look at how they deal with external pests.
Most animals are plagued by small biting insects such as fleas, lice, mites, ticks and parasites which drain blood, so they have developed a variety of ways to deal with them. Monkeys rub themselves with soothing plants and even insects. Capuchins in Costa Rica, for instance, use the Piper plant, from the chilli family, which contains compounds that deaden pain and kill off insects.Capuchins also rub their fur with millipedes, which make toxic chemicals known as benzoquinones that keep other insects away, as well as killing bacteria. Birds do something similar with a technique called "anting". They lie on an anthill and encourage the ants to crawl into their feathers because they secrete formic which can kill lice, mites and bacteria.
European starlings line their nests with wild carrots to protect themselves from infections. The carrot contains the steroid B-sitosterol which repels mites . This compound is also found in leaves of the Neem tree which house sparrows use to line their nests. We now use Neem for insect repellent as well.
White-faced capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica rub the pulp and juice of Citrus into their fur. They also tear up the plants Clematis dioica, Piper marginatum, and Sloanea terniflorastems, mix them with saliva and rub them in . Local inhabitants use three of these plants --Citrus, Clematis, and Piper--to treat skin irritations or repel insects.They contain compounds with healing and insect-repelling characteristics. Brown lemurs chew off branches of Dill Weed planted in their habitat and rub their body with the branches as an insect repellent Scientists are still working on methods to control reproduction. Inspite of billionsof dollars and “superintelligent” minds, it is still hit and miss. But animals have ways to control reproduction, According to World Wildlife Fund scientist Holly Dublin, African elephants seek a species of tree to induce labor. Dublin followed a pregnant elephant for more than a year in East Africa, and observed that the elephant followed a strictly uniform diet and pattern of daily behavior until near the end of gestation. At that time, the elephant walked 17 miles in one day--many more than her usual three--and ate a tree of the Boraginaceae family from leaves to trunk! Four days later she gave birth to a healthy calf. Kenyan women brew a tea from the leaves of this tree to induce labor.
Female Muriqui monkeys of Brazil go out of their way to find the leaves of Apuleia leiocarpa and Platypodium elegans, and the fruit of Enterlobium contortisiliquim . The first two plants contain isoflavanoids, which are compounds similar to estrogen. Ingesting the leaves increases estrogen levels in the body, thereby decreasing fertility. Eating the fruit, on the other hand increases the monkey's chances of becoming pregnant because the plant contains a stigmasterol which, like progesterone is known as the "pregnancy hormone"
tannin-rich plants cause the tongue to pucker and the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat to dry so most animals avoid them. But Madagascan lemur females when pregnant eat plants rich in poisonous tannins in the weeks before giving birth. Small doses of tannins kill parasites and stimulate milk production. Vets often use tannins to prevent miscarriage, raising the possibility that by eating the plants the monkey is protecting its developing baby.
Another fascinating finding involves the possible influence of diet on the sex of offspring among Costa Rican howler monkeys . Kenneth Glander, director of the Duke University Primate Research Center recorded statistically improbable numbers of same-sex offspring born to howlers: One female delivered males eight out of nine times; another female delivered four out of four males; yet another had females in four births out of five., it would imply that howlers may have some control over determining the sex of their young. Giving birth to males could offer a female howler a status advantage because all males are potential troop leaders. In other situations, she may best pass on her genes by producing daughters to mate with the head male. How amazing that howler monkeys can manipulate the mechanisms of evolution in a way that human scientists can still not ! The study to isolate the plants that are responsible for this is on.
So what is intelligence ? Animals can rid themselves of sickness without doctors , external parasites without creams and mosquito coils. They even manipulate their own reproduction with chemistry, using some plants as aphrodisiacs and others to enhance fertility. They use plants, earth and even insects in ways that aren't just about getting energy or nutrients but are specifically aimed at keeping themselves and their offspring healthy. Shouldn’t you start treating them , not just with the respect due to equals but the respect due to superiors ?
Maneka Gandhi
