Table 1.
Examples of studies documenting rescue behaviour in animals.
| Common name | Scientific name | Condition | Context of rescue behaviour | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnivora | ||||
| Dog | Canis lupus familiaris | E | Opening door to release owner trapped in a box | 21,25 |
| Banded mongoose | Mungos mungo | O | Lunging at an eagle to release captured pack member | 26 |
| Cetartiodactyla | ||||
| Humpback whale | Megaptera novaeangliae | O | Interfering with killer whale to release attacked conspecifics | 27 |
| Wild boar | Sus scrofa | O | Opening door to release group members trapped in a cage | this study |
| Primates | ||||
| Black-tufted-ear marmoset | Callithrix penicillata | O | Cooperative attack on a snake to rescue captured group member | 28 |
| White-faced capuchin | Cebus capucinus | O | Intervening in deadly attack of female and her infant by another individual | 22 |
| O | Cooperative attack on a snake to release captured group member | 29 | ||
| Cebus imitator | O | Cooperative attack on a snake to release captured group member | 30 | |
| Grey mouse lemur | Microcebus murinus | O | Cooperative attack on a snake to release captured group member | 31 |
| Bonobo | Pan paniscus | O | Removing snare to release captured conspecific | 32 |
| Chimpanzee | Pan troglodytes | O | Removing snare to release captured conspecific | 23 |
| O | Cooperative attack on a leopard to rescue group member | 33 | ||
| Bornean orangutan | Pongo pygmaeus | O | Protecting a female attacked by other individuals | 34 |
| Coquerel´s sifaka | Propithecus coquereli | O | Cooperative attack on a snake to release captured group member | 35 |
| Moustached tamarin | Saguinus mystax | O | Cooperative attack on a snake to release captured group member | 36 |
| Proboscidae | ||||
| African elephant | Loxodonta africana | O | Removing foreign objects (tranquilizing darts, spears) from body of conspecific | 24 |
| O | Intervening in attack on conspecifics by other individuals | 24 | ||
| Rodents | ||||
| Rat | Rattus norvegicus | E | Opening door to release a cage mate entrapped in a restrainer | 3,14,15,17,18,37–39 |
| E | Opening door to allow soaked conspecific into dry area | 10,13 | ||
| Mouse | Mus musculus | E | Opening lid to release a cage mate entrapped in a tube | 16,40 |
| Birds | ||||
| Seychelles warbler | Acrocephalus sechellensis | O | Removing sticky seeds from feathers of an entangled group member | 19 |
| Invertebrates | ||||
| Cataglyphis cursor, C. floricola, Lasius grandis | E | Removing sand, pulling a limb and biting in snare to release a nest mate ensnared by a nylon snare and buried in sand | 2,11,20 | |
| Formica sanguinea, F. cinerea, F. fusca | E, O | Removing sand and pulling a limb of nest mate captured by an ant lion larva | 41 | |
| Veromessor pergandei | O | Removing spiderwebs to release entrapped nest mates | 42 | |
E = experiment, O = observation. The cases involving rescue from predators are often termed as examples of cooperative self-defence against predators19.