'Chimps in Mourning' by Monica Szczupider appears in November's National Geographic
We don’t normally plug the competition, but this photo, which appears in November’s National Geographic magazine, is just too incredible to ignore.
So what you’re seeing here is a tribe of chimpanzees joined in what appears to be a moment of deep mourning as they observe the deceased body of Dorothy, an elder in their family, as she is hauled away in a wheelbarrow. Dorothy, who was in her late 40s, had succumbed to heart failure in the West African animal sanctuary.
Andy Soltis sums the scene up nicely in The New York Post:
As caregivers at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center bore her by wheelbarrow for burial, the typically boisterous apes rushed to the edge of their wired enclosure and fell silent.
They stood — wrapping arms around one another, resting on each other’s shoulder and not making a sound — as Dorothy’s female keeper adjusted her head in preparation for a final farewell.
The remarkable photo, which appears in the November issue of National Geographic magazine, was snapped by Monica Szczupider, who was working at the rescue center in eastern Cameroon.
She said Dorothy was a “prominent figure” among the extended family of about 25 chimps at Sanaga-Yong, and the sanctuary’s caregivers made sure the other apes witnessed her last rites.
“We brought her by wheelbarrow to let the others see,” she told the British newspaper The Sun.
Nice shot Monica. And thanks NatGeo for running it. This is one of those rare instances when wildlife photography makes you question your place in the natural world. I suppose gnarly shark photos do the same. But for different reasons…
[Via: New York Post]
what do we expect, the sad thing about that photo is that they did not say goodbye how they would want. most animals take great care of their young even dying to give them life, so if you raise them for years then there will be a strong bond. humans are so superior