Monday, January 31, 2011

Chimpanzees mourn their dead just like humans

According to a report by scientists from the respected Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, chimpanzees appear to mourn their dead infants just like humans. The scientists have filmed how one chimpanzee mother, whose 16-month-old infant died, apparently begins the grieving process. The ape continues to carry the body of her baby for more than 24 hours before tenderly laying it on the ground. Then from a short distance she watches over her child. Periodically she returns to the body and touches the face and neck with her fingers to establish it is dead. She then takes the body to other chimpanzees in the troop to get a second opinion. Source

No comments: