There are levels of love. The love that you feel towards your spouse is called Eros, due to the predominant erotic element in that love. The love that you feel towards your children is called Phlia. However, there is love that you feel to total strangers who are not your blood relations. This form of love is called agape. Both, Eros and Philia are supported by basic drives genetically coded in our system. To a large extent this is prevalent in all animals including man, the animal. However, generally the third type of love agape was considered typical of man. Because, this love involves a deliberate choice. There is increasing evidence from animal behavior that his form of love is found in animals also.
The process by which animals help other animals is often referred to as altruism in animal behavior, which is a well established fact with adequate documentary evidence. This altruism is often found with in the members of the family as well as with animals of the other species.
A common enough expression of animal help is found in the violence exhibited and the exertion that they make to save the endangered members. This is commonly exhibited by animal parents in the days of parenting. The highest form of this kind of kin help is found in the altruistic behavior of the mother called matriphagy in which the mother allows the offspring to eat them. This consumption of the mother by her offspring is found in the spider, Stegodyphus. In this behavior the mother’s sacrifice, ensures the survival of the progeny and it is the highest of sacrifice that any one can make and it is amazing that the animal can perform it.
There are other less heroic and at the same time amusing reciprocal help done by the monkeys to one another. The monkeys would show their back to others who will search for parasites for some time. Then the process is reversed. This help is somewhat symbiotic.
Survival of the fittest has been slogan of the evolutionary school spearheaded by the great scientist Charles Darwin. However, in nature we find many instances of the sacrifice of the fit to ensure the safety of the weak. This generosity is often extended even to the members of other species by animals. This behavior pattern has made many thinkers question the Darwin’s concept of the survival of the fittest.

There have been many documented instances of animals helping other animals. It has been found that dogs often look after cats, ducks, squirrels and sometimes even the cubs of dangerous of tigers. A breed of dogs known as St.Bernard have such natural delight in rescuing people caught in snow that in the Swiss Alps mountains they are used as rescue dogs. They can know from a great distance a person who is caught in an avalanche of snow and run for the rescue of that person. It is strange for us that a flesh eating animal used in the hunt can bring itself to perform such altruism against its basic nature.
There are many stories in the legend and lore about the exploits of dolphins in saving the lives of man and beast endangered in the sea. In the Greek legend and old sea stories there are many instances of these animals rescuing human beings as well as other fish in the sea. It is interesting to note that dolphins know by strange instinct that land animals cannot breath in water and in their rescue attempts they take care that animal is always in the surface so that their breathing can continue unhampered till the animal is brought to the shore.
Wolves and wild dogs are animals with predatory nature. When they go for the hunt they make sure that part of the game is carried to the members of the pack who could not join the hunt and part take the feast. There have been a lot of stories about wolf children. Many of these stories come from India. It is difficult to verify whether they are only fiction. It is quite possible, in the Indian villages which are near the periphery of forests when women go to work, they may leave the children under the shades of trees. A mother wolf that has lost her baby recently might be under the grip of the instinctive desire to feed its baby might find gratification in feeding the chance found human child. However, the widespread stories of wolf reared children in many cultures may have a nucleus of truth.
In the tactics of animal survival it has been reported that the male baboons act as rear guard to protect the troops from the predators from whom they are withdrawing. This maneuver is meant to protect the weak females and young ones. However, the male baboons take the risk of being attacked and killed by the enemy.
In the avian faun many bird species get help from helper birds to protect and feed the young ones. Some birds even go to the extent of protecting from predators other birds that belong to a different species.
Some animals can give alarm to the other members so that they can run for their lives at the approach of predators. The Vervet Monkeys make use of varied sounds to issue a warning of the approach of a type of predator. Each different animal have a different cry. So a leopard, a snake and an eagle trigger a different cry that is understood by others in the community. The young Vervet Monkeys show a natural tendency to make these calls and the adult monkeys encourage this skill. This is indeed helpful for the survival of others. However, the person initiating the cry endangers itself as they are easy targets to the predator.
A glance through the interesting facts of animal behavior shows that animals helping other animals is somewhat common and makes us infer that altruism is a quality found widely in the animal kingdom.

More and more animal behavioral studies show that animals have morals. In the wonderful plan of creation the behavior of animals has been genetically coded and they are able to behave only within the gamut of this genetic determinism. However, in the case of man there are many aspects that he shares with animals and there are many aspects which are subjects of individual choice. This choice makes man different from animals. So, all animal actions are moral as they are following the law of their nature in all that they do. In this sense all animals are innocent to the core.
In the case of man the choice he is forced make is a burden on him. It forces him to maintain moral standards that are entirely different from the animals. So, man’s actions come under the purview of criticism based on the accepted moral code of particular society.
Let us consider first the animal violence. Among the animals the violence that they exhibit is only part of their survival. In the wild animals do not exhibit violence for its own sake. It is part of their survival. So, we do not pass moral judgment on the lioness that pounces on the grazing deer. Once the appetite of the lion is satisfied the lion is totally non-violent. You may find the refreshing site of deer freely grazing in the close vicinity of the lion and the lion showing no sign of threat to the innocent deer. The need to eat and survive makes the lion exhibit its violence. Perhaps it is also part of the nature’s food chain. However, the human violence on fellow human beings and other animals raises many moral questions.
Expression of gratitude and loyalty are moral attributes. Some animals express this in a rich measure. In the front line of this abiding expression of loyalty and gratitude generally dogs and horses are placed. There are many amazing anecdotes about the loyalty of a dog and horses. Many dogs are capable of forming an enduring bond with their master and they will stand by their master in thick and thin. Their gratefulness and readiness to help the master in fact put man to shame. There are instances in which dogs have kept vigil over the dead body of their master for months and in some cases the death of the master evokes in them so much of sadness that after the death of the master some dogs express total listlessness and deep depression.
Just like dogs, horses have been loyal companion of man in battle and travel. In the hey day of ancient warfare when the horse were the reliable vehicles of stout warriors the heroisms of the horses are celebrated in ancient legend and lore. Some horses have taken back their dead warrior rider back home some times traversing miles of rugged and difficult terrains. In fact the love and affection experienced by many people from their dogs and horses in many urban areas have resulted in excessive zoo-philia. Many psychologists explain the excessive interest in animals is related to the frustration people feel in their unfulfilled relation with their fellow human beings.
Many animals show capacity for extending a helping hand to other animals even to animals that do not belong to their own kind. Moralists argue that the highest form of love is the love that you express to total strangers who is not your kith and kin. The love shown to ones own is only based the bonds of blood. It is known that some times a mother dog would breast feed a kitten who has lost its mother. Similarly, some birds hatch and rear the young ones belonging to other species. Dogs do guard the sheep and would take any risk in protecting the flock.
One of the complaints about the modern man is the absence of emotion when one of his companions dies. In many urban centers funeral are like the dispatching packing cases with no sign of emotion at the death of a person with whom we have shared the lives. The expression of sorrow faced with loss of a dear one has a moral dimension. The absence of tears is only a sign of shallow relation among people. This state of affairs is morally questionable. Some animals do observe some form of sorrow when one of their kinds dies. Elephants seem to express a range of feelings which human beings are capable, as observed by famous elephant enthusiast Joyce Poole, including the expression of grief at death. Some of the elephant behavior at death of another elephant is similar to human funeral obsequies. Poole and other field researchers have recorded elephants standing quietly beside the body of the dead elephant and even respectfully touching the body of the dead. After the flesh has decayed the elephants carry them to a special place and cover it with mud and leaves. Pool feels that elephants’ behavior at the death of another elephant leaves me with little doubt that they experience deep emotions and have some understanding of death. They feel the moral obligation to bereave the death of one of their dear ones.
Today the world is experiencing terrible moral anarchy in sexual conduct. However, it is gratifying that the animals are somewhat exemplary in their sexual conduct. Most of the animals regulate their sexual behavior to the requirement of procreation only. The dogs mate only seasonally, may be once or twice in a year. There are birds that choose partners for life and form an exclusive sexual partnership that puts man to shame in the days of promiscuous sexual life.
So, when we consider life in the animal kingdom we understand that animals have morality. All their actions are goaded by the urge to follow the basic nature God has entrenched in them.

How do white-tailed deer shape the forest under story and influence the distribution of other animals?

For 9 years we have monitored the small mammals and migratory birds in 12 areas, 6 of which were fenced to exclude deer. As the profile of under story characteristics changes, it may serve as an indicator for the potential of vertebrate species to live in these forests.

Weighing white-tailed deerManaging for deer may serve as an indirect means to manage for these less obvious species. To quantify deer impacts, and develop an index that can be used by land managers, spring wildflowers within the lily and orchid families are censused along 12 km of marked transects at the Conservation & Research Center, and the phenology of marked individuals is examined for browsing.

We are attempting to measure the severity of deer browsing on select wildflowers, and place this damage within the context of other factors, such as insect damage, which also impact on survival and reproduction.

Deer densities have been surveyed at the CRC since 1982, and within portions of the Shenandoah National Park and George Washington National Forest since 1990. These surveys have included line transects and fecal pellet plots.

White-tailed deer with ear markers

Over 350 deer have been captured and marked with numbered eartags at the Center since 1982, and presently approximately 100 marked individuals are observed within the unhunted population. These marked individuals have provided valuable behavioral information on foraging, dispersal, and reproduction. Radiotelemetry studies on this population have formed a part of at least 5 graduate theses.

Collaborating Agencies
Smithsonian Institution
National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
National Park Service
Shenandoah National Park
U.S. Forest Service
Earthwatch Foundation.

Investigators
Bill McShea
John Rappole

Source:

Defining morals can be hard, morals can be defined as regulations that society affects that we have got to follow, properties can be observed as ways by that to judge others or properties can be declared to be expended to inform a body how is correctly or wrong, properties copy this morals or there morals are such a guide. An ideal of a moral exhausted in now underlying thought is the current it is incorrect to kill, or it is incorrect to cheat in an exam.Defining your morals is in point of fact all up how you imagine is ideal or wrong, for ideal a small amount of buyers be certain too it is alright to notify a miniature grey lie as for a while as it does not lessen any individual or to save somebody out of purchasing hurt. While others are powerfully against telling a lie of any type regardless of the thing of whether someone’s feelings might get hurt, to them telling a lie is easily plain and easily wrong. Sometimes everybody may hold one set of morals for one predicament and a completely several set for somewhat else, for ideal properties would not experience any question telling minimal grey lies to such a boss but next when residential structure through this family and friends the consideration should never store this run of telling a lie.

Other times selected ingredients may instigate us adjustment and define our morals for ideal the family man in on a wife and 3 children who term hard everyday of his livlihood to end up with his wife and children the perfect livlihood possible. One day he loses his job, he will not see a different and no one serves to submit him a loan, his currency is fast running out and much although he tries anything accomplishable to get going back on his feet he fails to do so. In desperation he could easily turn to stealing, additonally in conventional form the notion may own appalled him in insane times it can be unanticipated to end up with how a good deal our morals and costs can be required to to change.

Define yourself in on morals

How we define our morals and criteria can furthermore relate to how we got brought up and the background or culture based on what i read in that we came. They can moreover tweak over experiences, so additonally several judge others solely on such a morals without that much understanding anything and everything on the background this moment can be a miniscule amount harsh.

While every and most any one of us performs undergo our own morals, how we myself are in agreement to be best or wrong, the majority of us do experience morals alike. For model the majority of realistic individuals will are in agreement such a it is incorrect to take the livlihood of a different old customer no question how the present past customer has done. We should never guess of going to get behind the wheel of a car additonally below the impact of alcohol and we wouldn’t easily walk to a input or up to a old client and steal or take how is not ours. So you see a small amount of morals can be defined as common additonally others we are cost free to select how it is we seek to take for granted in.

What is distinctive about humanity such that humans are thought to have moral status and non-humans do not? Providing an answer to this question has become increasingly important among philosophers as well as those outside of philosophy who are interested in our treatment of non-human animals. For some, answering this question will enable us to better understand the nature of humans and the proper scope of our moral obligations. Some argue that there is an answer that can distinguish humans from the rest of the natural world. Many of those who accept this answer are interested in justifying certain human practices towards non-humans-practices that cause pain, discomfort, suffering and death. This latter group expect that in answering the question in a particular way, humans will be justified in granting moral consideration to other humans that is neither required nor justified when considering non-human animals. In contrast to this view, many philosophers have argued that there is no philosophically defensible way to morally distinguish humans and to deny non-human animals moral consideration, but what the basis of that consideration is and what it amounts to has been the source of much disagreement.Source:standford

The list of extinct animals in Africa features the animals that have become extinct on the African continent and its islands, like Madagascar, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Réunion, Seychelles, St. Helena, Cape Verde, etc.

Pleistocene Extinctions

* African Deinotherium, Deinotherium bozasi
* homo erectus
* homo habilis
* Paranthropus boisei
* Pelorovis

Global Holocene Extinctions

Mammals
Quagga from London (UK), Regent’s Park ZOO, 1870
Quagga from London (UK), Regent’s Park ZOO, 1870

* North African Elephant, Loxodonta africana pharaoensis (300, North Africa)
* Algerian Wild Ass, Asinus atlanticus (300, North Africa)
* Bluebuck or Blue Antelope, Hippotragus leucophaeus (1799, South Africa)
* Atlas Bear, Ursus arctos crowtheri (1844, North Africa)
* Lesser Mascarene Flying Fox, Pteropus subniger (1862, Réunion)
* Quagga, Equus quagga quagga (1883, South Africa)
* Cape Warthog, Phacochoerus aethiopicus aethiopicus (1900, South Africa)
* North African Aurochs, Bos primigenius mauretanicus (Unknown date, North Africa)
* Bubal Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus (North Africa)
* Cape Serval, Leptailurus serval serval (South Africa)
* Madagascan Dwarf Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus lemerlei (Madagascar)
* Madagascan Pygmy Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus madagascariensis (Madagascar)
* North African Serval, Leptailurus serval constantina (North Africa)
* Red Gazelle, Gazella rufina (Algeria)
* Robert’s Lechwe, Kobus leche robertsi (Zambia)
* Canary Islands Giant Rat, Canariomys tamarani (Canary Islands)
* Lava Mouse, Malpaisomys insularis (Canary Islands)

Birds
Dodo (Jan Savery, 1651)
Dodo (Jan Savery, 1651)

* Aldabra Brush-Warbler, Nesillas aldabrana (Seychelles)
* Aepyornis or Great Elephant Bird, Aepyornis maximus (Madagascar)
* Ascension Flightless Crake, Atlantisia elpenor (St Helena)
* Broad-billed Parrot, Lophopsittacus mauritianus (Mauritius)
* Delalande’s Coua, Coua delalandei (Madagascar)
* Dodo, Raphus cucullatus (Mauritius)
* Large St Helena Petrel, Pterodroma rupinarum (St Helena)
* Mauritius Blue Pigeon, Alectroenas nitidissima (Mauritius)
* Mascarene Coot, Fulica newtoni (Réunion, Mauritius)
* Mascarene Parrot, Mascarinus mascarinus (Réunion)
* Mauritian Duck, Anas theodori (Mauritius)
* Mauritian Shelduck, Alopochen mauritianus (Mauritius)
* Mauritius Grey Parrot, Lophopsittacus bensoni (Mauritius)
* Mauritius Night-Heron, Nycticorax mauritianus (Mauritius)
* Mauritius Owl, Mascarenotus sauzieri (Mauritius)
* Newton’s Parakeet, Psittacula exsul (Mauritius)
* Red Rail, Aphanapteryx bonasia (Mauritius)
* Réunion Flightless Ibis, Threskiornis solitarius (Réunion)
* Réunion Gallinule, Porphyrio coerulescens (Réunion)
* Réunion Kestrel, Falco buboisi (Réunion)
* Réunion Night-Heron, Nycticorax duboisi (Réunion)
* Réunion Owl, Mascarenotus grucheti (Réunion)
* Réunion Pigeon, Columba duboisi (Réunion)
* Réunion Shelduck, Mascarenachen kervazoi (Réunion)
* Réunion Starling, Fregilupus varius (Réunion)
* Rodrigues Night-Heron, Nycticorax megacephalus (Mauritius)
* Rodrigues Owl, Mascarenotus murivorus (Mauritius)
* Rodrigues Parrot, Necropsittacus rodericanus (Mauritius)
* Rodrigues Pigeon, Alectroenas rodericana (Mauritius)
* Rodrigues Rail, Aphanapteryx leguati (Mauritius)
* Rodrigues Solitaire, Pezophaps solitaria (Mauritius)
* Rodrigues Starling, Necropsar rodericanus (Mauritius)
* Seychelles Parakeet, Psittacula wardi (Seychelles)
* Small St Helena Petrel, Bulweria bifax (St Helena)
* St Helena Crake, Atlantisia podarces (St Helena)
* St Helena Cuckoo, Nannococcyx psix (St Helena)
* St Helena Dove, Dysmoropelia dekarchiskos (St Helena)
* St Helena Hoopoe, Upupa antaois (St Helena)
* St Helena Rail, Porzana astrictocarpus (St Helena)
* Tristan Moorhen, Gallinula nesiotis (St Helena)
* Canarian Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus meadewaldoi 1981 (Tenerife)
* Canary Islands Quail, Coturnix gomerae (Canary Islands)
* Eastern Canary Islands Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus canariensis exsul 1986 (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura)
* Madeiran Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus maderensis 1924 (Madeira)

Reptiles

* Cape Verde Giant Skink, Macroscincus coctei (Cape Verde)
* Eastwood’s Longtailed Seps, Tetradactylus eastwoodae (South Africa)
* Leiolopisma mauritiana (Mauritius)
* Saddle-backed Mauritius Giant Tortoise, Cylindraspis inepta (Mauritius)
* Domed Mauritius Giant Tortoise, Cylindraspis triserrata (Mauritius)
* Mozambique centipede-eater, Aparallactus nigriceps (Mozambique)
* Réunion Giant Tortoise, Cylindraspis indica (Réunion)
* Rodrigues Giant Gecko, Phelsuma gigas (Mauritius)
* Domed Rodrigues Giant Tortoise, Cylindraspis peltastes (Mauritius)
* Saddle-backed Rodrigues Giant Tortoise, Cylindraspis vosmaeri (Mauritius) 1795
* Round Island Burrowing Boa, Bolyeria multocarinata (Mauritius)
* Seychelles Black Terrapin, Pelusios seychellensis (Seychelles)
* Typhlops cariei (Mauritius)
* Rodrigues giant day gecko Phelsuma gigas (Mauritius)
* Rodrigues day gecko, Phelsuma edwardnewtoni 1917 (Mauritius)
* Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard, Gallotia simonyi simonyi 1935 (Canary Islands)
* La Palma Giant Lizard, Gallotia auaritae (La Palma, Canary Islands)

Fish

* Pantanodon madagascariensis (Madagascar)
* Ptychochromis onilahy (Madagascar)
* Ptychochromoides itasy (Madagascar)

Insects

* St. Helena Earwig, Labidura herculeana (1967 St. Helena)

Molluscs

* Caldwellia philyrina
* Chilonopsis blofeldi
* Chilonopsis exulatus
* Chilonopsis helena
* Chilonopsis melanoides
* Chilonopsis nonpareil
* Chilonopsis subplicatus
* Chilonopsis subtruncatus
* Chilonopsis turtoni
* Colparion madgei
* Ctenoglypta newtoni
* Cyclophorus horridulum
* Cyclosurus mariei
* Dupontia proletaria
* Erepta nevilli
* Gibbus lyonetianus
* Gonidomus newtoni
* Gonospira nevilli
* Gulella mayottensis
* Harmogenanina linophora
* Harmogenanina subdetecta
* Helenoconcha leptalea
* Helenoconcha minutissima
* Helenoconcha polyodon
* Helenoconcha pseustes
* Helenoconcha sexdentata
* Helenodiscus bilamellata
* Helenodiscus vernoni
* Nesopupa turtoni
* Omphalotropis plicosa
* Pachnodus velutinus
* Pachystyla rufozonata
* Pseudohelenoconcha spurca
* Pupilla obliquicosta
* Rhachis comorensis
* Rhachis sanguineus
* Tropidophora desmazuresi
* Tropidophora semilineata
* Unio cariei
* Leiostyla lamellosa (Land Snail from Madeira)
* Pseudocampylaea loweii (Land Snail from Madeira)

Rediscovered

* Burchell’s Zebra, Equus quagga burchellii
* Coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae
* Madagascar Pochard, Aythya innotata

Extinctions in the wild
Scimitar-Horned Oryx at the Wildlife Ranch in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Scimitar-Horned Oryx at the Wildlife Ranch in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

* Barbary Lion, Panthera leo leo, (North Africa)
* Egyptian Barbary Sheep, Ammotragus lervia ornata (Egypt)
* Cape Lion, Panthera leo melanochaitus (Cape of Africa)
* Haplochromis lividus (Freshwater fish from Lake Victoria; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda)
* Labrochromis ishmaeli (Freshwater fish from Lake Victoria; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda)
* Scimitar Oryx, Oryx dammah (Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Israel, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara)
* Paretroplus menarambo (Freshwater fish from Madagascar)
* Platytaeniodus degeni (Freshwater fish from Lake Victoria; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda)
* Prognathochromis perrieri (Freshwater fish from Lake Victoria; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda)
* Yssichromis argens (Freshwater fish from Lake Victoria; Tanzania)

Source: Wikipedia