An alpha male rinopiteco attended for over two hours the dying partner, taking care of the female in the last moments of life and accompanying her to death.

Attention and a pain "in the making" that have focused attention on the meaning of the animals, particularly primates, to the inevitability of death.
10 amazing evidence of animal intelligence
Go to gallery (10 photos) The story.
The scene has been documented by Yang Bin and James R. Anderson, University of Kyoto (Japan) in the nature reserve of Zhouzhi in the Chinese province of Shaanxi.
One day the adult female began to bleed from the nose and show signs of discomfort, and it is isolated from the rest of the group.
let them space.
The alpha male, who knew and attended by three years, has approached and touched her twice, telling the other monkeys not to approach.
Half an hour later the two went up on a branch at 25 meters high, where the male has trawled and watched for a long time partner for several minutes, before the female suddenly fell to the ground, seriously injured his spine to the skull.
The female plummeted to the ground.
| Bin Yang, James R. Anderson, and Bao-Guo Li / Current Biology 26
No way.
The animal on the ground remained motionless launching occasional grunt; the partner and the other females of the group have approached and have assisted it for 50 minutes.
Then, the couple was left alone.
The male tried to pull it gently by one leg, as if to raise it up, but it was useless: the female is dead, and his companion remained another 5 minutes next to his body.
Even after reaching the rest of the pack, he kept looking at the spot where he lay partners, returning there the next day, when the body had been removed.
It was important, and he's gone.
"The case is particularly important for the delicate and gentle nature of the interactions," Anderson explains.
"The evidence suggests that, at least in cases of highly gregarious specimens, monkeys can show compassion for sick and dying people."
And although we must avoid the risk of dell'antropomorfizzazione animal behavior, as in this viral photo of a kangaroo, the assumption is that among primates, if the social bond is solid and long-standing, the emotional impact of bereavement it is evident.
No turning back.
"It seems likely that in species that live long like many primates, the repeated exposure to the group losses of individuals bring to understand that death is irreversible, which is a final step," continues Anderson, "I believe that the male and the other would understand monkeys the female was no longer alive. "
group wakefulness.
The case recalls another case of mourning among monkeys just described, however, dating back to a few years ago.
In 2010 Thomas, one 9 year old chimpanzee sanctuary Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust in Zambia, was found dead a day after he disappeared.
In the next half hour, twenty copies of his organized group a continuous procession and silent around his body, as can be seen in the video below, particularly poignant.
The vigil of chimpanzees (5:22)
The loved ones.
Pan, his best friend, he distinguished himself away other specimens from the body with a branch, while Violet, the alpha female, gave shrill cries waving the body.
Noel, an elderly female who had taken four years before Thomas, touched the body then taking a hand to his mouth (as in a "kiss") and then passed several minutes to clean teeth godson with a blade of grass.
Gathered to remember him.
In both cases, the disappeared animals were popular members of the group and enjoyed a strong social following.
The observation of the meaning of death in primates could tell us a lot about the origin of human grief, which is perhaps evolved to emphasize the importance of deceased individuals, and reaffirm the social cohesion of the remaining group.

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