A chimpanzee’s funeral

If this picture doesn’t make you think about animals and just how similar to us in their feelings they may or may not be, I dunno what would.

The chimp in the wheelbarrow is Dorothy, who died of natural causes (heart failure) in her late 40s on September 22, 2008. The photo above was taken at her burial, where all the chimpanzees at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center gathered in silence at the burial, watching their friend and loved one be placed to rest. From the In Defense of Animals – Africa website:

Nama sat beside Dorothy in death, touching her gently and not wanting to leave her side. Her son Bouboule, like most of the other chimpanzees, grieved openly. Alpha male Jacky fell on his back and screamed in distress, until he finally accepted the comfort of some of the others.

[…]

We buried Dorothy beside the enclosure where she lived and beside the tomb of her friend Becky. All the chimpanzees in her family came to watch and mourn with us. When we brought her to the grave site, they asked to see her again, so I took her body close for them to see her a final time. None of them left until the burial was finished.

Chimps have some of the closest behaviors to human that have been reported to date, and grieving – and love – seem to be a very marked traits.

Just a little something of interest to get you ponder how we really aren’t all that different from the rest of the world’s inhabitants, after all.

(via Pharyngula)
Technorati tags: chimpanzees · apes · morality · funeral