Shiny Things, Flickr
The death of the elderly chimp, Pansy, and the effects on her group were captured on video in late 2008 and documented in the journal Current Biology.
Researchers at the University of Stirling and the Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park watched what happened during Pansy's final days. As Pansy got sicker, her adult daughter, Rosie, and two other chimps stayed by her side at night and groomed her more than usual. When she died, they appeared to check her body for signs of life. The chimps slept erratically and were especially quiet the next day as her keepers took the chimp away.
For weeks after Pansy's death, the surviving chimps remained lethargic and ate less than normal, much like a person who lost a close relative or "mothers with dying infants," researchers said.
While many of us may think, "of course chimpanzees experience loss when one of their family dies," getting further insight into how the animals perceive and process death is useful. The authors propose that "chimpanzees' awareness of death has been underestimated," and suggested zoos rethink how they care for elderly and ill chimps. Instead of removing terminally ill animals from the group for treatment or euthanasia, as is the common practice, it might be more humane to let the group stay together and allow the animal to die naturally, the study suggests.







