![]() ![]() And like older humans looking for some peace and quiet, the chimpanzees showed a shift from negative to more positive interactions as they reached their twilight years. Older males were also more likely to spend more time alone and showed a preference for interacting with - and grooming - chimps they deemed to be more important social partners, like other aging chimps or their mutual friends. Mutual friendships are characterized by behavior such as reciprocated grooming whereas in lopsided friendships grooming isn’t always returned. The older chimpanzees they studied, for instance, had on average more mutual friendships while younger chimps had more one-sided relationships. Analyzing a trove of data, the researchers saw that the chimpanzees displayed much of the same behavior aging humans exhibit. The researchers looked only at male chimpanzees because they show stronger social bonds and have more frequent social interactions than female chimps. It shows what’s believed to be the first evidence of nonhuman animals deliberately selecting who they socialize with during aging. It looked at the social interactions of 21 male chimpanzees between 15 and 58 years old in the Kibale National Park in Uganda. The study draws on 78,000 hours of observations, made between 19. 23 issue of the journal Science and is authored by a team of psychologists and primatologists, including current and former researchers from the Harvard Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. Understanding why can help scientists gain a better picture of what healthy aging should look like and what triggers this social change. ![]() These behaviors were thought to be unique to humans but it turns out chimpanzees, one of our closest living relatives, have these traits, too. In 2019, the group moved to the new Great Ape Passage, a multi-million dollar expanded habitat designed to enable geriatric animals to integrate with younger troop members.Įven though he leaves behind no living offspring, his nickname was "Papa", according to zoo staff.When humans age, they tend to favor small circles of meaningful, established friendships rather than seek new ones, and to lean toward positive relationships rather than ones that bring tension or conflict. His relationships with caregivers was almost as important as his relationships with his troop members, zoo officials said, adding that staffers will miss how he expressed his "goodnight" to them with a soft pant-hoot. RELATED: San Francisco Zoo on verge of losing 3 elderly chimpanzeesīefore that, Cobby was a performing chimpanzee who was reared by humans. ![]() The four chimpanzees were brought to the San Francisco zoo in mid-1960s. A third female, Tallulah, passed away in 2013. The venerable chimp's companions for more than 42 years, females Minnie and Maggie, are both about 52 years old and his loss will hard on them, zoo officials said. "His death will be felt deeply by our staff, many of whom cared for him for decades." For so many years, he was a protective companion, demonstrating patience and resiliency."Ĭobby was a favorite with both visitors and staff, Peterson said. "Cobby was both a charismatic and compassionate leader of our chimpanzee troop. "Our hearts are broken with this devastating loss," Zoo director Tanya Peterson said. ![]()
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