A new study found that emotionally competent bonobos, especially those nurtured by their mothers, are capable of comforting each other in times of distress.
Researchers closely observed a group of young bonobos or "pygmy chimpanzees" now housed in the African sanctuary Olola ya Bonoboo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
After careful analysis of the video footage of the young apes, the researchers at the sanctuary concluded that those who were emotionally competent would rush to comfort another young bonobo who is in need of emotional companionship.
A particular footage showed one youngster hugging a fellow young bonobo after the latter lost in a fight.
These emotionally competent youngsters have also shown that they could immediately recover from their own stressful situations. This led the scientists to also look into the effects of psychological capacities of the young bonobos.
According to Prof. Frans de Waal, an Emory University professor of Yerkes National Primate Research Center, this is a breakthrough discovery as it proves the capabilities of young bonobos to comfort each other is related to its emphatic abilities.
"It's almost as if one first needs to have one's own emotional house in order before one is ready to visit the emotional house of another. This is true for children, and apparently also for bonobos."" he said to BBC.
There were earlier studies showing that bonobos in general are sensitive to other bonobos' feelings which can explain why they are also called, "empathic apes".
Lead study scientist Dr Zanna Clay, also from the Emory University at Atlanta; arrange all the video footage of daily interactions between the bonobos within the sanctuary.
These young bonobos are nurtured after they were taken from their mothers by bush meat hunters. As rehabilitation, they are initially given care by humans before taken to safe, controlled forests to congregate with other bonobos.
Dr. Clay's observations prove that those orphaned bonobos had a hard time overcoming their distressing situations. She noted that these young bonobos "would be very upset, screaming for minutes." Those who were nurtured by their mothers, in contrast, "recover and snap out of it in seconds."
This work, according to the scientists, provides evidence that "the way we develop our social and emotional skills and how we deal with the emotional world around us may be shared with that of our closest ape relatives".
The study was published in the Oct. 14 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences or PNAS.
