AFTER LIFE
“After the death of the female, which took place early in the morning, the remaining one made many attempts to rouse her, and when he found this to be impossible his rage and grief were painful to witness.”
In 1879, naturalist Arthur Brown recorded this observation after the death of one of a pair of closely bonded chimpanzees at the Philadelphia Zoological Garden. In the actions of the surviving male – hair tearing, plaintive cries and repeated efforts to revive his companion – Brown recognised an intensity of sorrow akin to that exhibited by humans after the loss of a loved one.
This is just one anecdote that appears to demonstrate capacity for grief in non-humans. But could such displays be the same as humans experience, or is there a less-emotional explanation?
Awareness of death and the emotions of grief were once thought to be defining human traits, but like so many other ‘uniquely human’ attributes, such as tool use, culture and language, this too might be overturned.
For centuries, animals have been observed expressing apparent sorrow at the passing of a group-mate. Many have
