AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY

We have already published our observations about the behavior of chimpanzees facing death. Like humans, they sensitize, express on their face and yell in sadness and during a period of time they mourn the death of a relative or friend,

Now a study conducted by Dr. Katherine Cronin and Edwin Van Leeuwen, of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, in Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage , in Zambia, and published in the American Journal of Primatology proved that chimpanzees appear to mourn the death of their infants in a manner strikingly similar to that of humans.

Doug Cress, executive director of PASA – Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance – declared: ““This study confirms what many have understood for so long – that chimpanzees and humans share emotions in addition to genetics. The loss of an infant is sad and confusing to human mothers, so why should that not be so in chimpanzees?”

Mothers chimpanzees are very connected to their babies and breast feed them for more than four years. And they protect them constantly, even after lactation. We remember when chimpanzee Lulu died: his best friend, Margareth, showed clearly her feelings. When we took her body out of the enclosure to bury it, Margareth cried, yelled and ran away when realized that Lulu`s body had no life anymore. She knew that her best friend had left her forever.

Dr. Mark Bodamer, professor of Psychology at Gonzaga University, partner in the study, commented: “It was only a matter of time, and the right conditions, that chimpanzees’ response to death would be recorded and subjected to analysis that would reveal remarkable similarities to humans.”

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian
President, GAP Project International

Related news:

https://www.projetogap.org.br/en-US/noticias/Show/2974,death-consciousness-scientific-proof