A groundbreaking new study is challenging long-held assumptions about primate behavior. Researchers from Durham University have discovered that chimpanzees – often characterized as aggressive and domineering – show just as much capacity for empathy and comfort as their famously peaceful cousins, the bonobos.
The Research team spent 1,400 hrs. observing both species in sanctuaries, carefully documenting how they responded when group members experienced distress. Contrary to expectations, they found chimpanzees were equally likely to console one another through comforting behaviors like hugging, hand-holding, and gentle touching – actions remarkably similar to how humans comfort each other.
Interestingly, the study revealed age plays a significant role in empathy among apes. Younger individuals in both species showed greater tendency to offer comfort than their older counterparts. For bonobos, all younger members were likely consolers, while among chimpanzees, young males and close social partners took the lead in offering comfort.
Dr. Jake Brooker, the study’s lead researcher, noted this work overturns stereotypes about both species. “Chimpanzees have long been labeled as the violent apes, while bonobos were seen as the empathic ones,” he explained. “Our findings show chimpanzees have the same capacity for consolation as bonobos”.
The research, conducted at primate sanctuaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia and funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation, represents the first direct comparison of consolation behaviors between the two species. Scientists believe further studies could provide valuable insights into the evolutionary roots of human social behavior ans empathy.
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