Author suggests animals have much in common with people
“The Inner Life of Animals” by Peter Wohlleben
If you love animals and secretly believe they are superior to humans, you will love this book. From the outset, author Peter Wohlleben seeks to dismiss the notion that human intellect is the measure of intelligence. Instead, “feeling” and “instinct” are celebrated — in both animals and humans — as truer evidence of sentience.
This introduction is followed by short chapters offering stories about animal behaviour. Each mini-collection of anecdotes, accompanied occasionally by scientific experiments, purports to show a distinct emotion felt by animals. Wohlleben introduces us to horses that feel shame, deer that grieve, roosters who seek to deceive their hens and even selfsacrificing ticks. The presentation is lighthearted and Wohlleben is a keen observer of nature. However, despite the remarkable animal behaviour, it’s hard not to be skeptical of Wohlleben’s conclusions when common sense suggests reasonable explanations that have nothing to do with feelings.
The author himself offers plausible evolutionary reasons why an animal might do what he has observed but then chooses to believe a more sentimental reason. Even the research which is presented includes disclaimers by scientists who are far less definitive than Wohlleben when it comes to explaining the outcomes.
Credibility is further strained when the author ventures into the habits of fish, fruit flies and slime mold. It should be noted that this is familiar territory for Wohlleben, the author of a previous bestseller “The Hidden Life of Trees” in which he ascribed feelings to plants. Shifting to the animal realm, he moves easily beyond primary motivations like fear, hunger or mating, into more speculative motives like altruism, empathy and regret. Notwithstanding Wohlleben’s dubious conclusions, readers will be beguiled by his knowledge of ecosystems and his deep love of wildlife.
Wohlleben manages a municipally owned, environmentally friendly woodland in Germany (one of many foresters in that country) so the book frequently refers to his personal work environment. Many of his tales also come from his menagerie of domestic farm animals, all named and ascribed personalities. Paradoxically, Wohlleben’s bias is what makes his writing so appealing. As the book’s foreword declares, “He is writing not as a scientist but as an observant animal lover.” Animal lovers everywhere will applaud.