As a result of hunting and persecution, pumas are showing symptoms of complex PTSD. When elephants lose their homes and families, are subjected to mass killing, and are captured and incarcerated in zoos, they breakdown mentally and culturally and exhibit symptoms found in human prisoners and victims of genocide. This is what I discovered with the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in wild elephants. White sharks, coyotes, and wolves not only have comparable mental and emotional capacities as humans, they are equally vulnerable to psychological trauma. This trans-species psychology allows us to see, even experience, the worlds of carnivores as they might - from the inside-out. The scientific model used to explore human minds applies to other animals. We know this because of what neuroscience has discovered - mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles (and now, it appears, invertebrates like bees and octopi) share common brain structures and processes that govern thinking and feeling. There certainly are differences between white sharks and elephants, but the similarities are much greater. What first lead you to explore the minds of carnivores?Ĭarnivores are a natural counterpoint to the herbivorous elephant, the subject of my previous book, Elephants on the Edge. She answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. Through “trans-species psychology,” Bradshaw asks us to consider the many ways that the animals we fear are far more similar to us than we might like to think. She uses the orca for a case study in the evolution of morals to explore emotional intelligence, her main example is the crocodile. In “ Carnivore Minds,” she argues that predators are none of these things. Bradshaw, known for her psychological work with elephants, asks readers to reconsider. The carnivore needs no introduction: fearsome, cold and brutal.
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