Animals That Commit Suicide. This behavior is observed in rats that have been infected by toxoplasma gondii, whose preferred host is cats. It remains unclear why whales strand.
Why do animals commit suicide? If we define suicide as the deliberate action of taking one’s own life, there are multiple examples in the animal kingdom. You might think of lemmings jumping off ocean cliffs to fall to their death by drowning.
Although contradicting the natural progression of life and an animal's evolutionary instinct for survival, some situations may lead to an animal inducing their own death.
Allegedly the epitome of “if your friend jumped off a cliff, would you,” this rodent has been incorrectly associated with mass suicide. Some species of aphids will immerse themselves in a pool of slimy fluid that glues their body to a predatory larva, killing them both. Is this the proof animals do commit suicide? Lemmings do not commit suicide.