Animals/Theories

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Theories about
Animals

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General

DHARMA logos

All animals experimented on by DHARMA Initiative have a logo on them somewhere, including the polar bears. The logo may be under the bears' fur or on a fur-less place like a foot pad. Lip/ear are common locations on animals where researchers/vets put tattoos
- We've only seen a shark and rabbit with it, right? The Polar Bears didn't as far as I can remember.
  - Correct - we haven't seen a DHARMA tattoo on a polar bear, but we have seen a polar bear wearing the DHARMA logo (a leather tag) - the bear [Charlotte] dug up in Tunisia.

Remote control

The shark was being remote controlled / manipulated using technology from the Aquarium section of the Hydra station as a way of either spying or thwarting the survivors of the raft assault.

Origin

The chickens and boar were introduced by the crew of the Black Rock.
The chickens and boar were introduced by earlier Polynesian settlers, or the builders of the statue.

Top of the food chain

Both polar bears and great white sharks are at the tops of their respective food chains. Ursus maritimus and Carcharodon carcharias are both mentioned in the blast door map notations, indicating the mapmaker's knowledge of these animals on the Island, and perhaps their relevance.

Purpose

The shark played an important role within the DHARMA Initiative's philanthrophic research, such as serving as a test object for new drugs.
The shark's logo was an Easter egg. It was told that is has nothing to do with the Darma Initiative. We were told this in the special features on that seasons DVD.

Specific animals

Birds symbolize betrayal

The Hurley Bird's appearance indicates that betrayal is imminent

The appearance of birds is a signal that a betrayal is imminent. Examples:

When Kate is convinced by the farmer to stay one more night so that he can turn her over to the police, there are a number of plates with birds on them on the walls.
When Jack's father tells him, as a child, that he doesn't have what it takes, there is a statue of a bird on a table.
When Charlie tries to get his brother to break up Drive Shaft according to a pledge they made to each other, his brother refuses, telling Charlie to "grab a bird", English slang for one of the number of groupies in the room.
When Boone tells Shannon about finding the door to the hatch - against Locke's wishes - birds wings can be heard fluttering in the background.
When Sawyer is about to betray Cassidy, there is a statue of a bird on a table and also a birdcage on a different table.
In the same episode, when Sawyer is betraying Locke by getting him to move the guns, Locke is looking through a book with "Owl" in the title.
Charlie is betrayed by his vision, where he sees a dove that encourages him to save the baby in the name of good; instead the rest of the survivors think he is trying to harm the baby and becomes a pariah.
When Michael is leading Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley into the Others' trap the Hurley Bird flies over.
Just as Charlie and Claire seem to be reconciling their differences, migratory seagulls appear, and Charlie, concerned by Desmond's ominous behavior, tells Claire that her idea to capture one is stupid, which leads to an argument and temporary break-up.
When Walt is asking for help with his homework (on birds)when in Australia, his Step-father ignores him, which results in a bird flying into the window and dying. When Walt's mother dies, his step-father calls Michael and tells him he doesn't want to look after Walt anymore

Bunny

Main article: Bunny/Theories

Cats

The "Monster" manifests as Nadia to judge Sayid. ("Enter 77")

The cat named Nadia is a manifestation of the "Monster". ("Enter 77")
- However, Mikhail has had the cat for some time. It is unlikely the Monster would appear in a form significant to Sayid, but spend most of its time in that form with Mikhail. Also, Sayid, unlike others who have seen apparitions from their past on the Island (Jack, Kate, Eko, Hurley), has never encountered the Monster in black smoke form.
- Damon Lindelof commented about "Sayid's little cat" along with Kate's horse in connection with the magic box in the March 26, 2007 episode of The Official LOST Podcast. If it's true that Kate's horse is a manifestation of the smoke monster, then Lindelof's comment may indicate that the cat might be as well.[1]
Nadia/the "Monster" watched Sayid to see if he would kill Mikhail in order to determine whether Sayid was a "good person" or not. ("Enter 77")
The cats seen in "Enter 77" are actually one and the same.
- Unlikely as one is male and the other is female.
Nadia is actually Sayid's cat, upon returning to the island Sayid finds himself in the 70's and, having to integrate, manages to get a job working at one of the stations, considering that he has been able to fix most electrical equipment over the last 4 seasons, he is probably very well suited to a job in The Flame. However most cats do not live longer than 2 decades, so either it died and is now "undead", or naming female cats at the station Nadia is simply a tradition.
Possible cultural references:
- The Prisoner - A black cat appeared in cameo roles in two episodes of this show ("Dance of the Dead", and "Many Happy Returns") which are reminiscent of the cats in Lost. ("Enter 77")
- Schrödinger's cat - A cat in a box with a firecracker may be an allusion to this. ("Enter 77")

Kate's horse

The horse appears to be very real; however, it is a group hallucination, since both Kate and Sawyer can see it. Kate touches the horse, so if it is a hallucination, it is not merely an auditory and visual one.
- Not very likely, as Sawyer sees it first without any prior mention of its existence. This is reinforced by Kate asking "Do you see what I see?" and Sawyer responding that he sees a horse. Group hallucinations are usually the product of suggestions being passed between people, who then form an immediate consensus on what's being observed, but no such information passes between Kate and Sawyer --- they form their impressions entirely independently.
It is a manifestation of the Monster.
The horse is Wayne reincarnated, similar to Sawyer's boar.
The horse is a sign that Kate is saved. It did save her before by crashing the marshal's car after her arrest.
The Smoke Monster/Island manifested itself through the horse (as well as through Sawyer, posing as Wayne) in order to test Kate. When she admitted her father's murder and spoke truthfully about why she did it, her last meeting with the horse was peaceful. If she hadn't told the truth, the encounter may have ended very differently.
Horse escaped from The Flame.
- This seems likely as it was too well groomed to be wild.
  - Agreed: it has clearly been well-curried, bears no scars or bald spots (produced by rubbing against trees), and its hooves are trimmed. But even if it escaped from a pen, its appearance is so well-maintained that it cannot have been loose for more than a week or so.
The horse came out of Ben's Magic Box
The term "dark horse" is typically used to describe a political candidate who might be viewed as an unlikely choice. This could symbolize Kate taking on more and more leadership qualities, rather than the attitude of "I'm coming with you" that she personified in Season One.
When first seen off island, it is an apparition of either Jacob or his Nemesis (latter more likely), ensuring Kate will make it to the island.
This horse is one of those that Charles Widmore (and the others) use to ride on when he was the leader of the others. We can see Charles riding on a horse when he attacks Jack and Kate when they were hiding in the bushes outside of the Others Camp. ("Follow the Leader")
The symbology of a horse represents freedom, strength, grace, and very often conflict of some sort. Black connotes negative aspects in horses, more so than with any other animal totem. When paired with a white horse, a black represents death (although ironically, to dream of a white horse is to invoke a death omen). Destruction, as well as impetuosity and rebellion, are also bound up in the symbology of the black horse, which all in all seems to be a metaphor for Kate's story as a whole...as well as Sawyer's, come to think of it.

Polar bears

Main article: Polar bear/Theories

The polar bears are a result of the Dharma Initiative's experiments.

Tree frog

The tree frog will appear again, it is Sawyer's manifestation of the "Monster".
The frog is a manifestation of Sawyer's conscience and his crushing it may be a creative device to indicate a shift to his darker side, especially as he had been getting softer in previous episodes.

Shark

Sharks are are known to have an extraordinary resistance to cancer and other diseases. The DHARMA Initiative may have been studying this trait in order to cure cancer.