Scientists have discovered that chimpanzees mourn their dead infants just like humans.
But now scientists have filmed how one chimpanzee mother, whose 16-month-old infant died, apparently begins the grieving process.
It’s the latest evidence highlighting just how similar chimps and other great apes are to humans.
The ape continued to carry the body for more than 24 hours before tenderly laying on the ground. Then from a short distance she watched over her child.
Periodically she returns to the body and touches the face and neck with her fingers to establish it was dead. After carrying the infant's dead body for more than a day, the mother laid the body out on the ground in a clearing and repeatedly approached the body and held her fingers against the infant's face and neck for multiple seconds.
Chimps are human’s closest relatives in the wild. Like people, they can use tools, using sticks to fish out termites, hunt in teams and plan ahead. They are also one of the few animals that can recognise themselves in a mirror - and realise that they are looking at a reflection.
This is an amazing video. Whether or not it shows chimps mourning the death of their young, or simply just being morbidly curious, is really up in the air; however, it certainly looks like a mother grieving. I'm completely fascinated by evolutionary biology, mammals, and sexual evolution, so this is right up my alley.
