I viewed these clips some years back. Left me in awe. Distorted my entire understanding of what constitues predator-prey relationships as it was traditionally taught in school. A recent foray into Masson's (1995) seminal work into animal emotions renewed my interest in ethology...a subject i would pursue if i were to relive my undergraduate journey again...this quote by the author merits a second thought...
"Animals cry. at least, they vocalize pain or distress and in many cases seem to call for help. Most people believe, therefore, that animals can be unhappy and also that they have such primal feelings as happiness, anger or fear...But there is a tremendous gap between the commonsense viewpoint and that of official science on this subject. By dint of rigorous training and great efforts of the mind, most modern scientists -- especially those who study the behaviour of animals -- have succeeded in becoming blind to these matters...Many scientists have avoided thinking about the feelings of animals because they have been frightened -- and realistically so--of being accused of anthropomorphism...If that can be disposed of as a false criticism, then the study of animal emotions can proceed on a scientific basis, freed from bogus fear."
(prologue to masson's text)
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