A baby’s first toy is often a soft teddy bear. Soon, children could meet Winnie the Pooh and Paddington. They learn that these bears are kind and polite with a good moral compass, despite their cravings for honey. Bears also play a major role in the folklore of all cultures. But science has been surprisingly slow to shed light on the emotions and personalities of real bears.
One factor has been the fear of falling into the trap of anthropomorphism and attributing human characteristics to animals. Although there are necessary distinctions between human and animal behaviors, the lack of data on animals’ feelings and personalities makes it easy to fill in the gaps with hypotheses. Anyone who believes real bears are friendly and kind might be in for a shock.
Research into a wide range of animal feelings was hampered by a 20th-century emphasis on limiting studies to actions that scientists could objectively record, such as the work of physiologist Ivan Pavlov who trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. Today, researchers are trying to objectively measure the interior lives of animals.
In this issue, we report on the work of scientists around the world to study the positive experiences of animals, including what we call joy. Any pet owner will report that their four-legged friends are clearly happy, but this impression could be influenced by the pleasure they bring us. A group of scientists studying New Zealand’s bonobos, dolphins and chattering parrots called keas are trying to develop a multi-species methodology for measuring joy. It’s not easy. Some of the incentives that scientists thought would spark joy instead caused distress.
It’s not just about knowing for the sake of knowing; An animal’s personality can influence its behavior, which in turn determines whether individual creatures thrive or perish in changing environments. As research progresses, environmentalists increasingly include animal personality in efforts to protect endangered species.
To complete our special animal file, we are going on a trip to a hidden world where animals live under the snow: the sub-level. Animal and plant life can survive harsh winters there because the snow acts like a down blanket that traps heat. But it’s a fragile world, threatened by milder winters caused by climate change. Scientists are working to find the best way to help this fairytale ecosystem survive on a changing planet.
