Old chimps stick Together with old friends
As we get older, we tend to stop acquiring new friends — and instead focus on a few recognized pals. This is true across several cultures; and now researchers have discovered the exact same trend in male chimps. “We all know that as people age, their social networks shrink but their societal bonds grow stronger, and we see the exact same thing here in chimpanzees,” said Asst Prof Zarin Machanda, a primatologist at Tufts University in the united states. The team analyzed 21 male chimps at the Kibale National Park in Uganda (because males have bigger social networks than females, which makes them simpler to analyse) and noticed dressing patterns, and more general interactions, to choose if their friendships were reciprocal, or one-sided.
They noticed that as chimps grew older, they’d fewer one-sided friendships than younger people, and much more mutual ones. In people, the concept is that when people age, and realise time is running out, they invest in what matters to them (it’s called the socioemotional selectivity theory). That chimps do exactly the same, despite not being aware of their mortality, indicates it may have other explanations.