Abstract
In a unique case where a chimpanzee infant captured by human poachers was returned by researchers to her natal group, an adolescent male helped the injured mother carry her infant on each of 2 days following the return. I explore various hypotheses to explain this behavior and suggest that the apparent recognition of both the infant’s and mother’s needs by the male supports the consideration of empathy in this case. As data accumulate, questions regarding empathy in non-humans should focus on more intricate levels as suggested by DeWaal (Annu Rev Psych 59: 279–300, 2008), rather than adhering to the assertion that empathy is uniquely human.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Barnes JL, Hill T, Langer M, Martinez M, Santos LR (2008) Helping behaviour and regard for others in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Biol Lett 4:638–640
Bates LA, Lee PC, Njiraini N, Poole JH, Sayialel K, Moss CJ, Byrne RW (2008) Do elephants show empathy? J Conscious Stud 15:204–225
Boesch C, Bole C, Eckhardt N, Boesch H (2010) Altruism in forest chimpanzees: the case of adoption. PLoS One 5:1–6
DeWaal FBD (2008) Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annu Rev Psych 59:279–300
Goodall J (1986) The chimpanzees of Gombe: patterns of behavior. Belknap ess, Cambridge
Hamilton WD (1963) The evolution of altruistic behavior. Am Nat 97:354–356
Hirata S (2009) Chimpanzee social intelligence: selfishness, altruism, and the mother–infant bond. Primates 50:3–11
Inoue E, Inoue-Murayama M, Vigilant L, Takenaka O, Nishida T (2008) Relatedness in wild chimpanzees: influence of paternity, male philopatry and demographic factors. Am J Phys Anthropol 137:256–262
Jensen K, Hare B, Call J, Tomasello M (2006) What’s in it for me? Self-regard precludes altruism and spite in chimpanzees. Proc R Acad Sci Lond 273:1013–1021
Lakshminarayanan VR, Santos LR (2008) Capuchin monkeys are sensitive to others’ welfare. Curr Biol 18:R999–R1000
Nishida T (1983) Alloparental behavior in wild chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania. Folia Primatol 41:1–33
Paukner A, Suomi SJ, Visalberghi E, Ferrari PF (2009) Capuchin monkeys display affiliation toward humans who imitate them. Science 325:880–883
Premack D (2007) Human and animal cognition: continuity and discontinuity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:13861–13867
Pruetz JD (2006) Feeding ecology of savanna chimpanzees at Fongoli, Senegal. In: Boesch C, Hohmann G, Robbins M (eds) The feeding ecology of great apes and other primates. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 161–182
Pruetz JD, Bertolani P (2009) Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) behavioral responses to stresses associated with living in a savanna-mosaic environment: implications for Hominin adaptations to open habitats. PaleoAnthropology 2009:252–262
Pruetz JD, Kante D (2010) Successful return of a wild infant chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) to its natal group after capture by poachers. Afr Primates 7:35–41
Pruetz JD, Fulton SJ, Marchant LF, McGrew WC, Schiel M, Waller M (2008) Arboreal nesting as anti-predator adaptation by savanna chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in southeastern Senegal. Am J Primatol 70:393–401
Sandin J (2007) Bonobos: encounters in empathy. Zoological Society of Milwaukee and the Foundation for Wildlife Conservation, Milwaukee
Silk JB, Brosnan SF, Vonk J, Henrich J, Povinelli DJ, Richardson AS, Lambeth SP, Mascaro J, Schapiro SJ (2005) Chimpanzees are indifferent to the welfare of unrelated group members. Nature 437:1357–1359
Stanford CB (1999) The hunting apes: meat eating and the origins of human behavior. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Teleki G (1973) The predatory behavior of wild chimpanzees. Bucknell University Press, Pennsylvania
Vonk J, Brosnan SF, Silk JB, Henrich J, Richardson AS, Lambeth SP, Schapiro SJ, Povinelli DJ (2008) Chimpanzees do not take advantage of very low cost opportunities to deliver food to unrelated group members. Anim Behav 75:1757–1770
Warneken F, Tomasello M (2006) Altruistic helping in human infants and young chimpanzees. Science 3:1301–1303
Warneken F, Chen F, Tomasello M (2006) Cooperative activities in young children and chimpanzees. Child Dev 77:640–663
Warneken F, Hare B, Melis AP, Hanus D, Tomasello M (2007) Spontaneous altruism by chimpanzees and young children. PLoS Biol 5:1114–1120
Zahed SR, Prudom SL, Snowdon CT, Ziegler TE (2008) Male parenting and response to infant stimuli in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Am J Primatol 70:84–92
Acknowledgments
Sincere thanks to the Republic of Senegal, the Eaux et Forets du Senegal, and the Arrondissement du Bandafassi for granting permission to conduct research in Senegal. K. Boyer, D. Kante, M. Tama Sahdjakho, and M. Camara provided assistance in the field. K. Klag, S. Lindshield, K. Walkup and one anonymous reviewer provided helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Funding provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, National Geographic Society, Leakey Foundation, National Science Foundation, American Society of Primatologists, US Fish and Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Grant, Primate Conservation Inc., Great Ape Trust of Iowa, and Iowa State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Department of Anthropology.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Pruetz, J.D. Targeted helping by a wild adolescent male chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus): evidence for empathy?. J Ethol 29, 365–368 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-010-0244-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-010-0244-y