Researchers from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda observed the life of mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, and saw how they treated their deceased relatives.
It is believed that people are unique in that they have special rituals of mourning for the dead. However, scientists are now convinced that this is not the case and that gorillas also have something similar.
One of the dead was 35-year-old Titus, the dominant male, the other was 38-year-old dominant female named Tuk.
The very first conclusion made by scientists was that in relation to the deceased, the behavior of gorillas from a close circle of the deceased and gorillas from a neighboring group are different. The former grieve much harder and longer.
The second interesting feature was that the rituals of mourning for Titus and Tuk were almost identical. In both cases, a group of gorillas sat very close to the corpse and looked at it, and then sniffed, touched, tried to care for the deceased's fur and licked it.
Gradually, the gorillas left the corpses and only the closest ones remained near the bodies. They sat by the bodies the longest. So, one of the young males, who made friends with Titus shortly before his death, spent two whole days next to the corpse of Titus and even slept next to him.
In another case, a young male named Segasira, the son of Tuk, tended the hair of a dead mother, and then even tried to suckle her breast, although he had long been eating solid food.
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According to scientists, this behavior indicates very strong upset, in addition, body care can stimulate the production of the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin is also called the "love hormone" because it creates a sense of peace and intimacy.
Segasira was lying next to his mother's body, sitting on it, lying on it, carefully trying to raise her head with his hands. He didn't seem to believe she was dead.
It is curious that another, more adult, son of Tuk named Urvibutso, behaved very differently next to her body. He violently punched himself in the chest. However, according to scientists, this is most likely part of the grief, as this aggression is probably caused by the fact that he could not "wake up" a close relative.
Later, gorillas from an unrelated group came to the body of Tuk and for about 17 minutes watched, sniffed and licked her fur. After that, they licked their fingers. A few hours later, someone from this group threw the dead body down the slope and after that only a few gorillas came to the body to "say goodbye".
Scientists have not been able to fully identify this behavior of gorillas, only suggesting that it is an expression of curiosity, compassion and sadness.
Another surprising takeaway from these observations is the response to how gorillas are infected with Ebola. Ebola kills gorillas and chimpanzees no less willingly than humans, and it is possible that it is transmitted from dead gorillas to healthy ones precisely through similar rituals of mourning with licking fingers.