Peter Wohlleben - The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion―Surprising Observations of a Hidden World

foreword by JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON

PETER WOHLLEBEN

translation by JANE BILLINGHURST

FRONT COVER ILLUSTRATION: Brli, Snow,
and Flocke, Peter Wohllebens goats

Copyright 2016 by Ludwig Verlag, Munich, part of the Random House

GmbH publishing group

Originally published in Germany in 2016 as Das Seelenleben der Tiere

English translation copyright 2017 by Jane Billinghurst

Foreword copyright 2017 by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

First published in English by Greystone Books in 2017

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a license from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright license, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

Greystone Books Ltd.

www.greystonebooks.com

David Suzuki Institute

www.davidsuzukiinstitute.org

Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada

ISBN 978-1-77164-301-6 (cloth)

ISBN 978-1-77164-302-3 (epub)

Copyediting by Lynne Melcombe

Jacket and interior design by Nayeli Jimenez

Jacket illustration by Briana Garelli

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.

CONTENTS

by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

FOREWORD

P ETER WOHLLEBENS PREVIOUS book, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They CommunicateDiscoveries from a Secret World, became a sensation in Germany when it was first published in 2015, and it went on to equal success in many other countries, as well. With good reason. The book is a passionate, intelligent, lyrical account of the emotions (yes, you read that right) trees experience on their own and for others, and sometimes even for others of a different plant species (something we call altruism). Trees take care of other trees that are weak or sick, they cry out when they are thirsty, and they possess other astonishing, long-overlooked abilities. The Hidden Life of Trees was an update to the vastly popular but scientifically dubious book by the American World War II spy Peter Tompkins, published in 1973: The Secret Life of Plants. With Wohlleben, we were on the right track.

And now comes the same treatment given to the inner life of animals. The only difference is that this subject has, especially in the last ten years or so, taken off as a field of serious research and popular books, especially by Jonathan Balcombe, the oceanologist Carl Safina and many others. The trend was started, I believe, way back in 1982 by the great Harvard biologist Donald Griffin, who wrote the book The Question of Animal Awareness. These books have proved immensely popular precisely because the general population knows that what is being described is true from their own experiences. Who, living with a dog, or cat, or parrot, could ever doubt that these animals feel as much as we do? Or even more than we do, I would now venture after reading what Wohlleben has to say.

I believe, too, that this movement has led to a transformation in the dietary practices of many millions of people around the world. If we can safely eat alternative food, why cause unnecessary suffering, is the thinking, a sentiment with which I happen to agree completely. I am not entirely certain where Wohlleben comes out in this increasingly urgent debate, but he makes absolutely no secret of his profound loathing of sport hunting by providing a sense of what the animals actually feel. His writing is a tour de force.

Wohllebens love of animals is apparent on every page of this absorbing book, and he has a special gift for allowing the rest of us to feel his enthusiasm and share in his knowledge and personal observations in a very simple way, all the while giving us good ammunition to demonstrate to skeptics how obvious his thesis is, when you stop and think about it. How far does he take it? Well, considering this is the man who has convinced the world that trees love their saplings, one has to be prepared for pushing the boundaries. Wohlleben does not disappoint. Ticks? You want to deny them any feelings? Well, then, be prepared for a counterargument from our author. I wont give it away, but everything he writes makes sense. That is one of his great strengths and what made his first book so adored: he says something completely out of left field, and within a few paragraphs he convinces you he is right and traditional science has been wrong for years.

Wohlleben convinced me over and over. Want to know the difference between the way hedgehogs and squirrels dream? Wohlleben will tell you. You will learn a lot about bees, because the author keeps them and he insists that they plan for the future, reflect on things they have not yet seen, and are aware of their bodies in relation to these things and so they are self-aware. By the way, did you know that bees must visit 125,000 flowers to get enough nectar to produce a single ounce of honey? Gems like this are scattered throughout the book. Butterflies, too, come in for some interesting observations. (One of the great strengths of the book is how widely the author casts his net. Tardigrades, also known as water bears, anyone?) It is hard to say what animal he is most fond of, but I was particularly impressed with his many accounts of pigs and their sensitive nature. And, of course, their intelligence. When a law protected them from hunting in the canton of Geneva but not in neighboring France, as soon as the first shots of the season were fired, the wild boar swam across the Rhne to the safety of Switzerland. (I cant help wondering what kind of world we would live in if we never hunted.) Even when the territory is familiar, it is good to be reminded, for instance, that ravens and wolves form what appear to be friendships.

Now I know that a number of scientists will be up in arms about the way Wohlleben proves a thesis. Take this as an example: A particularly moving example that animals, too, are capable of empathy across species lines comes from the Budapest Zoo. Aleksander Medve was visiting the zoo and filming the brown bear in its enclosure when suddenly, a crow fell into the moat. The bird began to weaken as it thrashed about and was in danger of drowning, when the bear intervened. It carefully took one of the birds feathers in its mouth and pulled the bird back to land. The bird lay there as though petrified, before it pulled itself together. The bear took no more notice of this fresh morsel of meat, which was definitely a potential prey item. Instead, it turned its attention once more to its meal of vegetables. I find this believable and I would love to have seen it, so I am grateful Wohlleben has made that possible. But I do see that a scientist will scream anecdotal evidence. Wohlleben obviously doesnt care. Should we? Upon reflection, I think not. He is writing not as a scientist but as an observant animal lover who has put a great deal of thought into this charming, accessible book with its generous embrace of topics on which he sheds both light and warmth. Reading the book is pure delight.