In the final hour, they huddled around, studied her face and shook her gently as if to revive her. And when the others had drifted away, one stayed behind to hold her hand.
As death scenes go, it has all the poignancy of human loss, but this was no everyday tragedy. The last breath was drawn before scientists' cameras and represents one of the most extraordinary displays of chimpanzee behaviour ever recorded.
Video footage of the death of Pansy, who at fifty-something was the oldest chimpanzee in the UK, was released by scientists today. The film captures for the first time the complex reactions of our nearest evolutionary cousins to the death of a group member.
Studying the apes' behaviour could tell us as much about ourselves as the attachments and responses to death that chimpanzees exhibit within their groups and families, scientists believe. It could also challenge procedures for dealing with terminally ill animals in captivity.
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Lann*quality
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ponceleon*sad
yellowcsays...It's stunning how the compassion is not lost, yet the emotional attachment is quickly forgotten (not in a bad way). The acceptance of death as a outcome of life with no strings attached is beautiful.
It's thing like this that show you how silly we really are when we place ourselves so high above other creatures because of our brains, yet can't have a topic like death be dealt with so simply, when it really is just that simple.
guymontagesays...Actually yellowc, if you follow the story more closely, you learn that the chimps, especially pansy's daughter, do not quickly forget.
Some time after, the large male seen greiving in this video has an outburst of aggressive displaying which the scientists attributed to either a last attempt evoke a response from the dead chimp or perhaps just an anger outburst over the loss.
More contrary to your point, is that it takes several weeks for the chimps seen here to return to normal behavior from being less active, social and eating less.
rgroom1Sad indeed. :'(
On a different subject, how does someone become a scientist without learning how to import an mp4 from a DVD???
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