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In the second condition, rats opened a rear door of the restraint tube and released the trapped cage mates into a distal chamber. (2011) 3, rats opened a front door of a restraint tube and released their trapped cage mates into the same chamber. In the first condition of the experiment of Ben-Ami Bartal et al.
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Most of the studies do not provide data on motivations and, thus, the discussion on the underlying mechanism of rescue behaviour is ongoing 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.Įxperiments with laboratory rodents emphasized the importance of experimental design to verify empirically the empathic motivators. Underlying motivations of rescue behaviour are difficult to reliably study due to experimental design or because several motivators can act simultaneously. However, rescue behaviour does not have to involve the empathetic component at all and there might be other motivators behind it 8, 9. In this model, rescue behaviour is placed under factor prosociality and does not involve the emotional matching or understanding others. Yamamoto (2017) 7 suggested an alternative combination model of empathy consisting of three independent factors that might interact: matching with others, prosociality, and understanding of others. According to the Russian doll empathy model 5, 6, targeted helping, together with consolation, represent the most complex forms of empathy that require perspective taking and emotional state matching. Rescue behaviour is considered a form of targeted helping, along with other prosocial behaviours such as instrumental helping 4. Indirect benefits such as fitness benefits are, however, possible 1.
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Finally, there is no immediate benefit for the rescuer in terms of food rewards, social contact, protection, or mating opportunities. Third, the actions of the rescuer are adequate to the victim’s situation, even if the rescue attempt turns out to be unsuccessful.
THE WILD CASE FREE
Second, the rescuer puts itself at risk by attempting to free the victim the rescue attempt represents a potentially great cost to the rescuer and thus is considered as extreme form of prosocial behaviour. First, the victim must be in distress, finding itself in a situation imposing a physical threat such as injury or death. To qualify as rescue behaviour, the behaviour must meet four requirements 1. Rescue behaviour differs from other forms of helping by its complex organization. Rats freeing restrained cage mates and ants rescuing their colony members trapped in a nylon snare buried in sand represent concrete examples of this phenomenon 2, 3. Rescue behaviour in animals is a form of prosocial action when one individual (rescuer) frees the other individual (victim) that finds itself in a distressing or dangerous situation 1. We discuss this rescue behaviour in the light of possible underlying motivators, including empathy, learning and social facilitation. The rescue behaviour might have been motivated by empathy because the rescuer female exhibited piloerection, a sign of distress, indicating an empathetic emotional state matching or understanding the victims. The whole rescue was fast and particular behaviours were complex and precisely targeted, suggesting profound prosocial tendencies and exceptional problem-solving capacities in wild boar. We documented a case in which an adult female wild boar manipulated wooden logs securing the door mechanism of a cage trap and released two entrapped young wild boars. It refers to a situation when one individual acts to help another individual that finds itself in a dangerous or stressful situation and it is considered by some authors as a complex form of empathy. Rescue behaviour represents an extreme form of prosocial behaviour that has so far only been demonstrated in a few species. Here, we provide unique photo documentation and observational evidence of rescue behaviour described for the first time in wild boar.