A central theme of  Kichwa origin stories is that plants and animals were originally human relatives who became estranged from their families, usually when they were teens and often in amorous breakups.    Whether because of laziness, immaturity, or simply as a natural response to overcrowding, tensions arise and certain people are excluded from the sharing of food and drink  that defined the communion of relatives. In anger and heartbreak the excluded ones stop eating the common human food and begin consuming wild substitutes. This in turn results in a changed body, the body of a new species. Since this new species now has its own distinctive food it no longer feels its exclusion so sharply and no longer needs the sharing of human food.   

 

These breakups that result in speciation are inevitable, and, in the long run are for the good because biodiversity is necessary.  Each species needs its space.   Still, the estrangement is not complete and different species need each other. For this reason the sight and sound of wild animals sharing their different food evokes a feeling of wistful curiosity and  empathy for the company of relatives who are like us but with whom we can no longer communicate because they have become permanently estranged.