Do Animals Cry Tears Like We Humans?

Can animals cry from pain or emotion? Crying is an innate human characteristic. The tears from our eyes signal sorrow, pain, anger, disappointment and helplessness, but also compassion and joy - and therefore also serve as a means of communicating with each other. Even cutting onions makes us cry.

But what about the production of tears in non-human animals? After all, we also talk about crocodile tears - and some dog owners also believe they can recognize when their dog is sad and crying.

Animals have tear ducts - but can they cry like humans? In this article, I would like to explain whether animals can also shed tears due to emotions. Let's go!

Can animals also roll tears?

The basic answer to this question is YES. But not for the aforementioned sentimental reasons that often make us humans cry.

Why do animals "cry"?

The eyes of many animals produce tears in order to Keep eyeballs moist, to provide the cornea with nutrients or to respond to environmental stimuli to be able to. The latter, for example, to be able to flush out foreign bodies on the eye.

And if we seem to detect crying in our dogs, then apart from the typical dried tear fluid, there may also be an eye inflammation, a blocked tear duct or even an allergy - i.e. a health reason - be the cause of this.

With crocodiles, however, the tears are also made of anatomical reasons shed. Simply because their upper jaw presses on the gland behind the third eyelid when eating. As a result, their eyes secrete. This is also the background of the expression "shedding crocodile tears", which describes a merely feigned sadness and consternation.

So our animal friends shed reflective tears - but not emotion-related body fluid. Animals do feel emotionslike fear, joy and sorrow - but they do not cry out of emotion.

Tip: Can animals laugh like we humans do? I have dealt with the answer to this question in a separate article. Feel free to take a look there as well.

We humans are the only animals who cry emotionally

In all animals (human or non-human), the secretion of tears is an important protective function of the eye. However, crying from pain, disappointment or emotion is, according to current, scientific knowledge, a exclusively human property. It represents an original type of social behavior of us humans. But animals "cry" differently.

Animals are more likely to shed tears for the physiological or health reasons explained above. Their They show emotions in other ways and quite clearly through their body language.

But if they could let their tears run freelike us, then the hurdle to the cruelty to animals by humans is probably even greater.

In keeping with this, I would like to conclude by offering you the following further reading Book "Eating animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer* to the heart. It deals with the question of what we eat and why - and is thought-provoking.

"The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness and misery."

Charles Darwin (more under Animal welfare quotes)

I hope that I have been able to help you with this article about the possible crying of animals. Do you have any questions or suggestions? Then I look forward to your comment.

Stay curious,

PS: Feel free to browse the animal welfare blog around. Learn now, for example, Why animal welfare is so incredibly important. I will be happy to show you in another article, what you can do in everyday life for the welfare of animals simply by following your heart.