Nature Science

ANIMAL PASSION & ROMANCE

Beautiful rainbow lorikeets nuzzle while sitting on a branch.

by Lance. “You know I care.”

ANIMAL PASSION

“Jungle love, it’s driving me mad. It’s making me crazy.” -- Steve Miller

Animal passion is largely a figment of fantasy or -- for a lucky few -- an actualization of wild romance. But it turns out that some animals actually experience romantic love.

There is some evidence that some animals are capable of experiencing a similar range of romantic emotions as we can. The brains of many mammals are surprisingly similar to the human brain.

The brains of cats, for example, are about 90% similar to ours. This suggests that they could be capable of experiencing romantic love.

We’ve long known that pets and as zoo animals, form strong attachments to their caregivers. And attachment is a form of love.

Depending on others is an ingredient in the evolution of love.

There is lots of anecdotal evidence of dogs, cats, and horses mourning the death of a caregiver. In fact, it has been found that dogs operate with a more sophisticated attachment pattern than infant humans do.

Two adorable Alaskan Malamute puppies.

But animals also seem capable of experiencing attachment love for each other -- aka romance. Tika and Kobuk, a mated pair of malamute dogs that raised 8 litters of puppies together bear testimony. Kobuk, often bullyish with Tika as well as others, reversed his behavior when he sensed that his Tika was sick and needy. She had developed cancer in her leg. His bullying stopped. He let Tika sleep on the bed, while he rested on the floor. He groomed her face. He would not leave her side.

Pair of black ravens perch atop a while street lamp.

The BBC documentary Animal Odd Couples features several unusual loving pairs. And it’s not restricted to mammals. A significant number of bird species mate for life. In his book “Mind of the Raven,” biologist Bernd Heinrich argues that ravens, which have long-term mates, must feel a form of love attachment for each other.

Pair of beautiful grey wolves display affection.

Loving feelings are especially important for animals who work together to raise young. Some kind of internal reward is required to maintain a long-term pair bond.

Icelandic horses playfully nuzzle each.

In many animals, feelings of love are accompanied by changes in the brain’s chemistry -- just as it happens with humans. The brain begins to release the hormones dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which stimulate the brain’s pleasure centers, sparking that love thing.

Two turquoise zebra finch eggs lay in the green grass.

A study conducted at the Riken Brain Science Institute, in Saitama, Japan, found that when a male zebra finch serenades a female, nerve cells in the ventral tegmental area of his brain become activated. It correlates to the area in a human’s brain that responds to cocaine -- both trigger the release of the “reward” chemical: dopamine. Chemical love aims to keep babies coming.

Pair of lemurs cuddling.

Love can also be detected by brain imaging studies of animals. Magnetic resonance imaging show patterns of brain activation and deactivation associated with feelings of romantic love.

Pair of prairie voles perched on a mossy rock.

And love is not just for the highly evolved. Take the prairie vole, for example, a little mouselike mammal that lives in the grasslands of central Canada and the United States. Male and female prairie voles form lifelong pair bonds, sharing nesting and pup-raising responsibilities.

Two lions share affection in the grass.

Many mammals, including voles and humans, produce the hormone oxytocin, which rushes in to secure love between mates and among parents and their young.

Gorgeous butterflies mate atop a flower, creating a mirror image.

Given that many living things are wired for love, it seems inevitable -- even though, it’s notorious hard to find and even harder to sustain. Learn more about wild love in our story New True Chemical Romance Stories.

Two beautiful giraffes standing in the high grass.