Humans are geneticaly very similar to other living creatures so no wonder that those animals can feel the same kind of empathy. The tendency to reign over the planets resources comes to a great extent from the minds of religious big shots. http://www.businessinsider.com/comparing-genetic-similarity-between-humans-and-other-things-2016-5/#for-humans-were-999-similar-to-the-person-sitting-next-to-us-the-rest-of-those-genes-tell-us-everything-from-our-eye-color-to-if-were-predisposed-to-certain-diseases-1