WCS 3-Sentence Science

Gorilla in Mourning

January 9, 2020

CREDIT: WCS CONGO

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by WCS Congo’s Claudia Stephan on grieving behavior in western lowland gorillas.

1. Researchers working in the Congo’s Nouabale Ndoki National Park provide observations on a wild, female western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), who was observed to carry her dead infant for at least 16 days.
2. While several observations of behaviors towards dead members of the same species are available for chimpanzees, reports on other great ape species are less frequent.
3. Comparative observations in great apes and other nonhuman primates could reveal whether humans are unique in our ‘culturized’ ways to grieve.

Study and Journal: “Attached beyond death: Wild female western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) carries and cares for mummified infant” from African Journal of Ecology
WCS Co-Author(s): Claudia Stephan (Lead), WCS Congo Program

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.