For a long time we have called them, even in a derogatory way, "beasts", to thus underline the distance from the human being, so "civilized" and evolved. Leaving aside the judgment on the frequent stupidity of our species, the amusing book by Alfonso Lucifredi Cats sailors and octopus guessers (Hoepli Editore, 2022, pp. 152, also e-book) tells us a series of adventurous, surprising, sometimes dramatic stories that they serve to understand how incredible and underestimated are the abilities, intelligence, sociability of so many animals with which we share our existence on Earth.
Some of the stories told by Lucifredi are very famous such as that of the octopus Paul , who became a media star during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa for his – real or presumed? – ability to guess the prediction of the matches that saw the German national team engaged. Other stories concern animals capable of becoming real stars of the show like Jumbo the elephant , the undisputed star of the Barnum circus in the second half of the 19th century, and Keiko the killer whale became an international celebrity after starring in the family film Free willy. Again: some stories are so incredible that they seem to come from Walt Disney's imagination. In fact, who could believe that at the end of the 19th century, in South Africa, a baboon managed to become the signal operator for trains? Yet, this is the story of Jack the Signalman , that is the "signaler", who for almost ten years did not even make a mistake in his role as an unusual railwayman.
From the story of these and many other events, it emerges how animals have often been protagonists of the history, society and entertainment of the world of human beings . But another reality also emerges, which we too often tend to forget as the author himself writes in the preface of the book: "We have provided each of these animals with a role, a function to fill in our environment, often forgetting what the They. And, even more serious, we have forgotten that we ourselves are animals, that we have ancestors in common and that our world is also that of the other representatives of the animal kingdom. As good cohabitants, we should begin to relate to the rest of the natural world with greater respect and – more importantly – with great empathy».
We have to do this for a very simple reason: animals are our family and have been our travel companions since the dawn of time. They just want us to remember, finally.