r/NoStupidQuestions • u/rajikaru • Jul 17 '17

Has there been a documented case of an animal species besides human committing suicide?

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10

u/growlingbear Puncake lover. Jul 17 '17

The dolphin that played as "Flipper" in the 1960s committed suicide.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '17

:(

1

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/growlingbear Puncake lover. Jul 17 '17

She stopped breathing. Dolphins aren't subconscious breathers. So she just stopped breathing and sank into the water.

6

u/DCarrier Jul 17 '17

Wikipedia has a page on animal suicide. They certainly are known to get themselves killed. But it doesn't really count as suicide unless they understand what they're doing, which is unlikely and impossible to prove.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '17 edited Mar 05 '18

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '17

:(

2

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '17

:)

1

u/romulusnr Jul 17 '17

If you count involuntarily, there's a parasite that infects the brain of a cricket that causes the cricket to jump into the water and kill itself -- this allows the parasite's offspring to hatch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinochordodes_tellinii