Extraordinary scene shows chimps grieving

This extraordinary scene took place at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Centre in Cameroon, west Africa, when a chimp named Dorothy, who was in her late 40s, died of heart failure.

Her death seemed to have left her fellow chimpanzees stricken by sorrow.

As they wrapped their arms around each other in a gesture of solidarity, Dorothy's keeper gently settled her into the wheelbarrow which carried her to her final resting place - but not before a final affectionate stroke of her forehead.

Villagers serve as "care-givers" to the chimps, all orphans whose mothers were killed in the illegal bush-meat trade.

Until recently, describing scenes such as this in terms of human emotions such as "grief" would have been dismissed by scientists as naive anthropomorphising.

But a growing body of evidence has suggested that "higher" emotions - such as grieving for a loved one and even a deep understanding of what death is - may not just be the preserve of our species.

Chimpanzees - as revealed in November's National Geographic magazine - and closely related bonobos maintain hugely complex social networks, largely held together by sex and grooming. They have often been observed apparently grieving for lost family and tribe members by entering a period of quiet mourning, showing subdued emotions and behaviour.

And such complex emotions are not the preserve of primates or even mammals.

University of Colorado ethologist Dr Marc Bekoff this month reported evidence that magpies not only appeared to grieve but they carry out something akin to a funeral ritual.

In one instance, four magpies took it in turns to approach another's corpse. Two flew off and returned with a piece of grass, which they laid down by the corpse. The birds then stood vigil.

But the most famous non-human death rituals are those of elephants which will often spend days guarding a dead body, gently prodding the remains with their trunks and giving the impression of being lost in grief.