Death, Grief, & Monkeys

from National Geographic

Although I usually try to focus on humorous monkey stuff, existence is unfortunately not all fun & games.

I was interested in this National Geographic photo showing our 'primitive' genetic cousins trying to silently comprehend the unknown void that is Death.

Although it is impossible to completely put into words, the phenomenon of grieving loss on some level will one day be understood to exist among all social animals. As much as the death of a member of the community is a loss of another, it is also a loss of part of one's self that identified and connected with someone else.

It is a sad scene & an reminder that we are also animals made of flesh that will cease to function one day. Beyond that, it's all a bunch of speculation.

There's an article giving some background on this incident:

The Story Behind Our Photo
of Grieving Chimps