The Guardian Of Nature

Whenn Thomas, an orphan chimpanzee was killed, his friend Pan looked grieving for him. And Pan is not the only one. Other chapters in the group choose to be around Thomas, although that usually is the time for them to eat. A number of chimpanzees touch Thomas's body. A dominant, female chimps even brush Thomas's teeth with grass before the corpse is brought.

Thomas's death was not the first time an ape was observed to mourn the dead. But it is one of the best documentation, in the events recorded in the film. Perhaps more surprisingly, two species of monkeys - more detached apart from us than macaques - have been observed to have similar behavior in the wild. The monkey looked aware, and even mourning, the death of another monkey.

Because the event is done in open space, this 'mourning' behavior can make monkeys susceptible to predators. So the question is, why do they do it? Finding out about it can help us understand how sadness evolved.

Bin Yang of the Shaanxi Academy of Sciences in Xi'an, China, has followed a community of more than 130 wild-nosed pink golden nose monkeys for more than a decade. These monkeys live in groups at Mount Qinling in Shaanxi Province, Central China. Most groups consist of a male with several females. Male monkeys who did not get females, formed their own group.

In December 2013, Bin Yang realizes that a female called DM is missing from his group. Three days later the DM reappeared, but he seemed to lose his orientation and stay silent on the edge.

The dominant male sits next to him. She gently touched her hand twice and took care of her. Other group members noticed from a distance.

The dominant male gently touches his hand several times, taking care of and hugging him. She looked after her, and stayed longer than she used to do, but ended up going to the mountains for safety.

The monkeys show an understanding of behavioral changes.

When Yang returned from the field he sent his observations to the prime expert James Anderson at the Kyoto University of Japan, an expert on "primal agriculture": the study of death.

Anderson says it's hard to say whether other monkeys know the DM is dying, but "they seem obviously more attentive and more attached to it than usual."

The monkeys pointed to an "understanding of behavioral change that shows compassion for the severely and unhealthy," he said.

Yang and Anderson publish their research results in the journal Current Biologypada May 2016 May 2016.

The second report, published in May 2016 in the journal Primates, describes four barbary monkeys killed within the span of more than a year ago since September 2013.

The researchers observed a group that spends a lot of time around the tourist sites in Morocco's Ifrane National Park. Flocks of monkeys often fight over food near busy streets, and consequently they died from being hit by a passing vehicle.

In the first and most informative observations, the female who occupies the highest position in the group, Mary, was hit by a bus. Despite a serious injury, he can still move to the nearest tree.