Can We Ever Understand Animals?
Humans are spending hours carefully studying our fellow animals. But will we ever truly understand them?
By the time she died at the age of 46, Koko the gorilla was a global superstar. Not only could she apparently understand two thousand words of spoken English and convey her own thoughts and feelings using sign language, but she was even able to give her own pet kitten a name.
Some say that it’s impossible to know whether Koko really understood what she was communicating, or whether she was just trying to please people by signing certain things. Either way, her death raises questions about animals, and the ways in which we try to understand them.
On this week’s Inquiry we examine how recent discoveries are bringing us closer to understanding our fellow creatures. We reveal some surprising animal capabilities, and ask whether we can ever know what it’s like to be anything other than human.
image: European Hamster (Shutterstock)
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- Thu 12 Jul 2018 02:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 12 Jul 2018 03:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 12 Jul 2018 06:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service Australasia & East and Southern Africa only
- Thu 12 Jul 2018 07:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service Europe and the Middle East
- Thu 12 Jul 2018 14:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service except News Internet
- Thu 12 Jul 2018 19:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Sat 14 Jul 2018 16:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service Online
- Mon 16 Jul 2018 03:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service Australasia
- Mon 16 Jul 2018 05:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service South Asia
- Mon 16 Jul 2018 06:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service East Asia
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