They're Just Like Us: Chimps Mourn Dead

Two new studies have found that chimpanzees go through a similar grieving process that humans do after a death. The two studies, published yesterday in the journal Current Biology, found that chimps comfort the ailing, have trouble sleeping after a death in the family, and have difficultly letting go, especially after losing a child.

In the first study, researchers observed how three chimps treated an elderly fourth chimp, a female named Pansy as her health declined. As Pansy grew weaker, the other chimps groomed and caressed her. They began sleeping next to her at night, instead of on their normal platforms.

After she died, the chimps tried to shake her awake, pushed on her chest, and then two of them left her alone. The third chimp, Pansy's adult daughter, stayed with her mother's corpse all night, sleeping fitfully. The two other chimps groomed each other quietly, perhaps for comfort. The next day, zookeepers removed the body. The chimps stayed lethargic and refused food for days. There is also a video of the chimps' ordeal.

In the second study, two wild chimpanzee mothers were observed after a disease killed their infants. The mothers of those infants continued to carry the corpses around, even as the bodies became mummified. One mother carried her baby for 19 days; another mother carried hers for 68 days. It is unclear whether the mothers knew their infants were dead, as the researchers did not see the mothers' reactions at the time of their infants' death. If the mothers knew their infants were dead, this may have been their way of coping.

These studies show that chimps experience grief, empathy, and have at least some understanding of death. This is yet more evidence that differences between us and other animal species, apes in particular, are not as clearly defined as once thought.

Photo Credit: King Chimp