Good Grief

About a month ago an intriguing picture and article was published, in which the picture appeared to show evidence of chimpanzees grieving and mourning the loss of another fellow chimpanzee. The picture shows a mass of chimpanzees lined up standing side by side, a few with an arm around the other, along the wire fence at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in Cameroon, West Africa as a deceased female Chimpanzee is carried in a wheelbarrow by two of the caretakers to her finally resting place.



If you have worked with, studied or been around chimpanzees personally, you realize that they are indeed very loud and social creatures and to see the number of chimpanzees in this picture seemingly calm is astonishing. Yes, a lot of times news articles like to direct and focus animal stories and imply anthropomorphic implications. Well, this article in the Daily Mail newspaper and another in The Telegraph does the same in some regards but also provides other examples from other species to indicate that we, humans, are not the only species to have cultural behaviours that include death ceremonies, rituals and even manifestations of grief. Some people may read the article and even think that this idea is novel and exciting; however, it really should not come as such a shock or surprise considering the high percentage of genetic similarity we share with chimpanzees.

What are your thoughts?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1223227/Is-haunting-picture-proof-chimps-really-DO-grieve.html#ixzz0XmDW1CU5

Just to put this picture into perspective, the following pictures below are the typical scenarios and behaviours of chimpanzees at the Ngamba Island, Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda that I experienced during my visit in 2008.