Do animals have the ability to communicate and express emotions as humans do?Explain your point of view and provide supporting examples from any readings and videos from this module

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Animal’s Communication and Emotional Abilities
The animal’s ability to communicate to human beings has been proven through various interactions with animals. People have interacted with apes, chimpanzees, dogs, cats, dingoes, and even elephants. The observations made from the interaction with animals is that they can communicate to human beings and express emotions. The primary mode of communication for animals is through sign language, as well as facial and behavioral expressions. An animal may refrain from activities as an expression of their dislike of the current situation or unfavorable conditions that have been induced. Animals can express their emotions due to sadness emanating from the surrounding circumstances. Different researchers have provided their observations on different animals and shown that their ability to understand sign language and communicate back. Therefore, it can be asserted that animals possess the ability to communicate and express emotions the way human beings do.
Animals have been found to understand sign language as they communicate with human beings. At the Gorilla Foundation in the United States, a gorilla named Koko was found to understand American Sign Language. The researchers at the institution reported that Koko was able to understand one thousand signs of communication which he used to communicate to them. In an encounter with Robin Williams in 2001, Koko the gorilla was able to give a sign to show that he wanted a drink (Gorilla Foundation).

The animal doctors present gave Koko a bottle full of juice, and he started to drink immediately. Besides, Koko was able to give a sign to Williams that he wanted to be handpicked at the armpits. He took his right hand to the armpit of his left hand and did it for the right hand using the left hand as a sign to show he wanted Williams to handpick him. Animals use sign language when they need to communicate with human beings. They use signs since they are unable to speak the human language although they understand instructions. Communication with animals is one-sided since human beings do not understand their language, but they can understand what they are told. The interaction between Williams and Koko, the gorilla, shows that animals can communicate to human beings through sign language.
Researchers have found that animals have emotions and can express them. Professor Paul Hemsworth, who has conducted a lot of research on animals while working as the director of Animal Welfare at Melbourne University asserts that animals have emotions. Hemsworth adds that when human beings communicate with animals, they can respond and at the same time express emotions. At the Gorilla Foundation, Koko was able to show sad emotions after learning that Robin Williams whom he met a decade ago had passed away. Researchers at the institute took a picture of Koko who looked sad after the news of Williams’ passing. They also took pictures of the gorilla as it retreated to its chambers looking somber, an expression of grief due to the death of a human friend (Gorilla Foundation). Koko’s reaction to the news of William’s demise is a show of the ability of animals to express emotions. The capacity to express emotions differs from one animal to the other. However, the reactions and expression of emotions have similar characteristics such as retreating from normal activities or staying quiet for a considerable duration. Therefore, it can be asserted that animals can show emotions as a result of a tragic event such as the death of one of their own or a human companion whom they knew.
Apart from sadness, animals can show happiness or joy. They do that by being jovial or playful when they are in a pack or around a person whom they consider friendly. At the Gorilla Foundation in California, United States (U.S.), the researchers were surprised when they saw Koko smiling. The gorilla had signaled Robin Williams to hand-pick him at the armpits, and during the exercise, Koko smiled to show happiness and content. The researchers took a video that showed Koko’s reaction during their interaction with Williams, and the gorilla smiled several times (Gorilla Foundation). Happiness is an emotion that human beings express to show their satisfaction. Similarly, animals have the same ability to express happiness when their expectations are met by human beings.
In conclusion, it can be claimed that animals have an innate ability to express emotions. They can show sadness or happiness depending on the surrounding conditions and the animal’s expectations. Additionally, animals have learned the art of communicating through sign language to convey their message. Animals can learn by observing what human beings are doing and then replicate the same when it is expected. Besides, animals communicate among themselves, but the language they use is not understood by human beings. However, through association, animals can learn human language, and they respond using sign language. Williams’ encounter with Koko the gorilla showed that animals can communicate and express emotions just as human beings.

Work Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 GF, The Gorilla Foundation. PRESS RELEASE: Koko Remembers Robin Williams. 11 August 2014. 15 January 2018. <http://www.koko.org/koko-tribute-robin-williams>.