Comments on: How chimpanzees deal with death and dying

By: Andy D.

Andy D. — Mon, 03 May 2010 09:44:31 +0000

I’d like to see evidence that distinguishes grieving from not understanding death. If a mother carries a dead infant for several months, that could be pathological grief, or just a lack of understanding.

By: Briana

Briana — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:46:16 +0000

The gorilla thing came from Koko didn’t it?

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_12_131/ai_n8569017/

“She and Patterson had previously talked seriously about death. Patterson had asked Koko about her understanding of it, and the gorilla had responded, “Trouble old … comfortable hole bye … sleep.” Death in the abstract had seemed to suggest peace to the gorilla.”

By: Brian Schmidt

Brian Schmidt — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:51:12 +0000

I just noticed that the chimps in the Biro2 video are doing the stone tool-using, nut-cracking thing I’ve read about but had never seen before. Kind of cool.

By: GodlessNot Clueless

GodlessNot Clueless — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:18:23 +0000

Bob, we all make mistakes. The Onion is particularly good at convincing spoofs.
I think that the ‘gorilla’ in close-up having the ‘emotional breakdown’ has been the star of an advert by Cadburys in the UK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLEGBKG-o5g

By: Bob Carlson

Bob Carlson — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:32:01 +0000

Re #6. Serves me right for not having read the comments wherever I first saw this.

By: GodlessNot Clueless

GodlessNot Clueless — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:11:21 +0000

Sam W (comment#1); the point being that Rosie stayed with her mother’s body through the night, but once the body was removed they didn’t use that platform again for the following week.

Bob Carlson (#3); the youtube video is a hoax! Have you never heard of The Onion?

By: Captain Skellett

Captain Skellett — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:14:20 +0000

@Adela: It does contrast, but not in such an unexpected way. Humans war with each other and can be cannibals, but we are also subdued by a peaceful death, and angered by a sudden death.

Sad

By: Adela

Adela — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:11:43 +0000

This contrasts harshly with the wild chimpanzee infanticide and cannibalism activity also observed.

By: Bob Carlson

Bob Carlson — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:40:49 +0000

But he [de Waal] also adds that we can’t draw any conclusions about whether they understand their own mortality.

But if a gorilla can be taught to understand that it will someday die, I wonder if a chimp might understand it without being taught.

By: Lilian Nattel

Lilian Nattel — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:02:28 +0000

“It might, for example, be more humane to let the old-timers die naturally, surrounded by peers and familiar surroundings, than to resort to isolated treatment or euthanasia.” Probably for humans too!