Chimpanzees and grief: video

Scientists are validating and advancing Jane Goodall's early observations that chimpanzees experience grief (among other "human" emotions). When a 50-year-old chimpanzee named Pansy was dying in a zoo in Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Parkin in Stirlingshire, Scotland, companion chimps gathered around her, groomed her and caressed her. Her daughter slept by her side even after she died. "...[C]himpanzees show several behaviours that recall human responses to the death of a close relative," the authors of the study wrote in Current Biology. Another study describes how wild chimpanzee mothers carried the dead bodies of their babies for weeks. Read New Scientist's coverage of both studies for a good overview.

Watch the zoo video here: