This is a really interesting (and sad) read about mourning behaviors in non-human primates. Included in the blog post (which is really worth a read) is a description and video of a chimpanzee mother whose 16-month old infant died. You see her leave the body in a clearing, but then come back to look at the infant and touch her neck and face repeatedly. It almost seems like she is trying to convince herself that the life has actually gone from the body, checking to see if its reappeared. Who knows what's actually happening in her mind. Whatever the case, it's sad.
Here is the academic paper that describes the process in objective (read: dry and emotionless) terms.
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The video is very moving. I think that she is clearly checking for a pulse at times. I love the idea in the article that there may be a natural altruism, beyond kinship, that at least extends to species.
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