A nice little story I think. Gorillas hold 'wake' for group's leader Gorillas last respects similar to human behavior Babs suffered from an incurable kidney condition BROOKFIELD, Illinois (AP) -- After Babs the gorilla died at age 30, keepers at Brookfield Zoo decided to allow surviving gorillas to mourn the most influential female in their social family. One by one Tuesday, the gorillas filed into the Tropic World building where Babs' body lay, arms outstretched. Curator Melinda Pruett Jones called it a "gorilla wake." Babs' 9-year-old daughter, Bana, was the first to approach the body, followed by Babs' mother, Alpha, 43. Bana sat down, held Babs' hand and stroked her mother's stomach. Then she sat down and laid her head on Babs' arm. "It was like they used to do in the exhibit, lying side by side on the mountain," keeper Betty Green said. "Then Bana rose up and looked at us and moved to Babs' other side, tucked her head under the other arm, and stroked Babs' stomach." Other gorillas also approached Babs and gently sniffed the body. Only the silverback male leader, Ramar, 36, stayed away. Keepers said the display wasn't surprising. "She was the dominant female of the group, the peacekeeper, the disciplinarian, the one who kept things in a harmonious state," Pruett Jones said. Koola, 9, brought her infant daughter, whom Babs had showered with attention since her birth in August. "Koola inspected Babs' mouth for a while, then held her baby close to Babs, like she loved to do the last couple months, letting Babs admire her," Green said. Babs had an incurable kidney condition and was euthanized Tuesday. Keepers had recently seen a videotape of a gorilla wake at the Columbus, Ohio, zoo and decided they would do the same for Babs. Gorillas in the wild have been known to pay respects to their dead, keepers said. "I had a headache for the rest of the day after all the tears I cried watching them," Green said. CNN
animals especially primates have alot moe of human behaviour then we know. Did you know that: -Chimpansee fight wars. They go with a group of young male adults into the teritoria of their neighbour tribe and kill every primate they encounter. They trhow rocks and hit them. -Ourang outang(spelling?)- they rape other apes. There was one time a ape raped a human woman. Animals have alot more feelings then people think IMHO
This isn't anything I haven't said before about primates, but it's still interesting if you haven't heard it: Chimps seem to enforce 2 main rules in their societies: One good turn deserves another, and an eye for an eye. Many primates have concepts of equality and fairness. In addition to using primitive tools, chimps can also 'use' other chimps to accomplish their own goals, they can get a third party involved in their social interactions (such as fighting or mating) to ensure that the situation will go the way they want it to. They even have makeup sex when they're done fighting. Bonobo chimps also have promiscuous sex - not just for mating like just about every other species - and they engage in homosexual activities. And it's not that orangutans are raping for pleasure such as humans do - it's forced copulations with an estrous female to try to ensure their reproductive fitness. That's a common theme in many primates.
If you've never watched a documentary about Koko the gorilla, you should go out and rent it. She completely cries when her pet cat dies. She also communicates via sign language. By the way, I would like to thank SamFisher for not ruining this somber, thoughtful thread by using it as a platform to attack me. I like the Christmas Spirit of that, or whatever you earthlings would call it.
Or you could just go to http://www.koko.org They have a cool video of Koko hanging out with Mr. Rogers.
http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000790/koko_meets_the_stars.html Wow, that was cool. KOKO is awesome. I remember watching shows on her.
