It is now known that many animals exhibit unique behaviors around same-species corpses, ranging from removal of the bodies and burial among social insects to quiet attendance and caregiving among elephants and primates. Researchers in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo have been able to take a close look at the behavioural responses to the deaths of three individuals -- both known and unknown -- in gorillas and have reported their findings in PeerJ - the Journal of Life and Environmental Sciences.
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A Grauer's gorilla group gathers around the body of a male gorilla encountered in the forest of Kahuzi-Biega National Park [Credit: Dian Fossey, Gorilla Fund International] |
Researchers predicted that more individuals would engage with the corpses of familiar members of their own group compared to the extra-group mature male and that individuals who shared close social relationships with the deceased would be the ones to spend the most time close to body.
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A juvenile mountain gorilla inspects the body of his mother for several hours after she died in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda [Credit: Dian Fossey, Gorilla Fund International] |
In the two mountain gorilla cases, individuals that shared close social relationships with the deceased were the ones who spent the most time in contact with the corpse. For example, a juvenile male who had established a close relationship with Titus, the dominant mountain gorilla silverback male, after his mother left the group, remained close and often in contact with the body for two days, and slept in the same nest with it. The juvenile son of Tuck, the deceased adult female, groomed the corpse and even tried suckling from it despite having already been weaned, a behaviour that could indicate his distress near his mother's body.
A juvenile mountain gorilla touches and grooms the body of his mother in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
[Credit: Dian Fossey, Gorilla Fund International]
Source: PeerJ [April 03, 2019]
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