Do Chimpanzees Understand Death?

After the death of her mother, Rosie had a fitful night, tossing and turning and getting up frequently.

That afternoon, Rosie, 20, and her mother's long-time companion, Blossom, 50, had tended to her mother as she lay dying, frequently stroking her hands and arms. Blossom's son had arrived just around the time of death and checked the body, shaking a lifeless arm. For days after the death, the three of them were relatively quiet, had little appetite and avoided the place where Rosie's mom had died.

Such a scenario has surely played out countless times in the course of human history, but the scene above comes from a new paper describing a rare documented death of an old infirmed chimpanzee and the reactions of her close family and companions. The death and surrounding chimp activity were captured on video cameras and are described in a paper published online April 26 in the journal Current Biology.

Link to video

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