Video shows chimps care for the dying
Source: Agencies |
April 28, 2010, Wednesday
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RARE video footage taken at a wildlife park shows that chimpanzees react to the death of a group member just as humans do when a close relative dies, researchers said on Monday.
Videos of a group of four chimpanzees at Scotland's Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park showed three of the animals caressing and grooming the fourth, a dying female, more than usual, said James Anderson, a lecturer in psychology at Scotland's University of Stirling.
The videos also showed that the three chimpanzees tested the elderly female, Pansy, for signs of life at the moment of death, Anderson said.
Pansy's daughter lay near her mother's body throughout the night, and all the chimpanzees were subdued over the next few days.
"It's the first time to our knowledge that people have been able to capture on video the precise moment at which an adult chimpanzee dies in the midst of his or her group," said Anderson, who co-authored a study published yesterday in the journal Current Biology.
Researchers have not been able to observe how chimpanzees react to death because in the wild a dying animal usually isolates itself and crawls into cover for protection, Anderson said. In zoos, sick animals are usually separated from the group and euthanized.
At the Scottish wildlife park, the three surviving chimpanzees - all of whom had been living with Pansy as a group for more than 20 years - gathered around her and caressed her in the 10 minutes preceding her death. When she died they inspected her mouth and lifted her head and shoulder to try to shake her into life, Anderson said.
The animals left Pansy after her death, although her daughter later came back to build a nest and lie by her all night long.
Videos of a group of four chimpanzees at Scotland's Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park showed three of the animals caressing and grooming the fourth, a dying female, more than usual, said James Anderson, a lecturer in psychology at Scotland's University of Stirling.
The videos also showed that the three chimpanzees tested the elderly female, Pansy, for signs of life at the moment of death, Anderson said.
Pansy's daughter lay near her mother's body throughout the night, and all the chimpanzees were subdued over the next few days.
"It's the first time to our knowledge that people have been able to capture on video the precise moment at which an adult chimpanzee dies in the midst of his or her group," said Anderson, who co-authored a study published yesterday in the journal Current Biology.
Researchers have not been able to observe how chimpanzees react to death because in the wild a dying animal usually isolates itself and crawls into cover for protection, Anderson said. In zoos, sick animals are usually separated from the group and euthanized.
At the Scottish wildlife park, the three surviving chimpanzees - all of whom had been living with Pansy as a group for more than 20 years - gathered around her and caressed her in the 10 minutes preceding her death. When she died they inspected her mouth and lifted her head and shoulder to try to shake her into life, Anderson said.
The animals left Pansy after her death, although her daughter later came back to build a nest and lie by her all night long.
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