Through several data stating that chimpanzees and humans are 97%, 98%, or 99% similar DNA wise mean one thing: chimpanzees are very closely related to humans. It can be easily observed that our body structure, intellect, and especially behavior and those of chimpanzees display some commonalities. With these in mind, do chimpanzees feel any emotional attachment to others? In a recent article, two experiments were initiated to observe how chimps respond to the death of those close to them.
Chimpanzees actually respond to dying chimps as well as dead chimps. This shows how highly developed their awareness of death in contrast to what has been suggested before. Researchers believe that this aspect is involved in their sense of self awareness much like their being able to self-recognize and displays of empathy for others.
A major difference between how humans react to the death of a close one and how the chimp reacts is truly different. Chimps tend to be more calm compared to humans be frenzied and becoming traumatized.
In the first study, the researchers were able to observe how much attention is paid to a dying adult female chimp. Before the chimp died, those around her groomed her as well as caressed her. By caressing her, the other chimps are testing for any signs of life or death. Right after she dies, the other chimps left her while her daughter stuck beside her mother throughout the night. For many days, the chimpanzees avoided going near the dead chimp’s sleeping spot.
In a different study, five members of semi-isolated chimp community were witnessed dead. Of the five, two were infants. The response from the mother chimps to her child’s death was to carry it on her back for weeks and months following their death. They also treat the dead as though they were alive such as carrying them everywhere, grooming them, and taking them into the nests during the day and night. As days pass, the mothers are able to let go little by little, allowing others to handle the dead.
This exemplifies how highly aware chimpanzees are concerning death. Also, this displays how strong the bonds are between mother and infant chimps. It’s truly amazing how readers are able to understand somewhat how the mother chimp feels or how an infant chimp feels about the death of the other. What truly surprised me was the fact that in spite of the dead infant chimp, the mother would allow other infants to play with the dead corpse as though it was normal. That’s going to an extreme.
Posted by Vinh Tran
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Reading this article seems very unreal. While I believe that they may be aware of death in the first study, the other study seems to put words in chimps actions. How do the scientists know that the chimp knows there young is dead? Maybe the chimps do not know or something else is going on here. These behaviors of playing with the dead are complex and would take alot of research and question to determine what is really going on. As of now I am not convinced. This is too bizarre.
ReplyDeletePosted by Amanda Hostetter
This article is very obtuse. Reading this article is very interesting, but I am not convinced at the logic. The chimps in the first study seem to have a sense that an elder died, but did they really tend to her or are there more bugs to groom off of her before death? In the second study I am weary of being convinced of the fact that the mother knows her new born is immediatly dead. I know this sounds dumb but I want to know why she continues to carry it and let other play with her dead offspring. Sorry to put down the article, but it is too bizarre and there are so many human feelings within this.
ReplyDeletePosted by Amanda Hostetter
sorry for two..the first did not show up.. :)
ReplyDeleteI can how the daughter staying by her mother before she died was a good point that chimps may have a sense of death. Also that the other chimps wouldn't go near the laying spot for awhile acknowledges the fact that they know something happened there. I also think the second part is unusual I feel like pretending the baby chimp is still alive is not showing signs of acknowledging death. This research has a while to go before it can be convincing completely.
ReplyDeleteValerie Silva
It's interesting to find Chimps remembering their loved ones and mourn after their deaths. But this characteristics does not prove anything about the relationship between humans and chimps. There are many other species in the world who can remember their peers or family members. Also I believe the research could have studied more long term effects. It would nice to know if Chimps remember their loved ones even after couple of years.
ReplyDeletePosted by Minwoo Ji
I agree these Chimps my have a sense of death when a member of their family is dead like we do because we share a common ancenstry from a couple of million years ago. But the second part needs a little more study, it may raise questions weather these chimps may have some sort of culture groups like humans which could explain this type of behavior.
ReplyDeletePosted by Anna Moreno
This is an interesting article but I'm wondering if the chimps are more calm than humans when one of their own dies is because they do not know that the chimp is dead. It seems like in both studies, the chimps treated a dead chimp as if it were alive, suggesting maybe they do not know they are dead. And maybe as time goes on they do not know what is going on so they just leave the dead chimp alone. The chimps not knowing about death could be the reason why they are calm and do not seem upset.
ReplyDeletePosted by Kayla Perry
As I've said before, it doesn't really surprise me when human behavior is found in other creatures in nature. We are all animals afterall. As for this article though, I agree with most of the comments in that the first experiment shows that the chimps acknowledge the elder's death. For the second experiment perhaps the mother is in denial that the child is dead and in her grief she continues to carry it and treat it as though it were alive with the hope that life will return to it. I don't think that that theory is a stretch.
ReplyDeletePosted by Charly Almonte
Whats interesting to me is how these chimps are affected in both these cases when many other animals would have just ignored the sick animal and left it to die and move on (harsh but that's nature). Of course in the first case they were in a confined area so that could change things. Usually when a mother's offspring die, animals spend considerably less time (few days) mulling over the dead body or the fact that the baby has been eaten by something and shut off their parental care mode and stop any changes that they would have undergone for child rearing. This lets them go back to their routine life and possibly even become fertile and mate again. So why are these chimps different? It could be random and just freak behavior or is it their complex brain that causes them to still feel attached to their dead family members when other less cognitive animals would normally not?
ReplyDeletePosted by Daniel Solomon
The point that I think the author/researchers want to get across was that these chimps are able to succumb to the state of denial and are possibly facing a sort of separation anxiety disorder after the death of their fellow chimps. Either way, there needs to be more evidence to support these ideas.
ReplyDeletePosted by Vinh Tran