Reconciliation and Consolation in Captive Western Gorillas

Abstract

We studied post-aggression mechanisms in a captive group of western gorillas (Apenheul Primate Park, The Netherlands) and compared them with those of wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei). We found the same trend for reconciliation that wild mountain gorillas show: reconciliation occurred only between adult male-female dyads, while it was absent in the other sexage class combination. There were both solicited and nonsolicited contacts; the latter finding is in contrast with the result obtained in wild mountain gorillas, in which consolation was absent. Immature females were more likely to offer consolation toward both related and unrelated individuals. Consolation did not reduce the likelihood of further attacks among group members. It may be that, as the α-male plays a fundamental role in preventing the spread of conflicts throughout the entire group, triadic contacts become ineffective for the function. The levels of consolation were higher in absence of reconciliation than in its presence, suggesting that consolation may function as an alternative mechanism in stress reduction of the victim.

Reconciliation, consolation and postconflict behavioral specificity in chimpanzees

“…These functions, however, have never been tested, and as the mechanisms of solicited consolation may be different from consolation; the two postconflict interactions should be considered separately. Although solicited consolation has been demonstrated in many primate species [Watts et al, 2000], a number of studies on apes have not found any evidence for it, even when consolation has been demonstrated Kutsukake & Castles, 2004;Wittig & Boesch, 2003; but see Cordoni et al, 2006;Mallavarapu et al, 2006;Palagi et al, 2004Palagi et al, , 2006. The inconsistencies in the results obtained from previous studies thus emphasize the need for further research in this area.…”

Why are bystanders friendly to recipients of aggression?

“…7,10 The majority of research on post-conflict behavior has focused on reconciliation, the affiliative post-conflict interaction between former opponents, 11,12 but important post-conflict interactions may also occur between the opponents and bystanders uninvolved in the previous conflict. 13,14 In particular, a number of recent studies have demonstrated the phenomenon of post-conflict affiliation directed from a bystander to the recipient of aggression in a variety of species from primates [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] to dogs 26 and rooks. 27 This review focuses on bystander to recipient interactions and examines the variations in their patterns, which are consistent with a number of different functional explanations.…”

Stress reduction through consolation in chimpanzees

“…Consolation has been demonstrated convincingly only in the great apes [Pan troglodytes (2,10,(12)(13)(14)(15), Pan paniscus (16), and Gorilla gorilla (17,18)]. De Waal and Aureli (10) have speculated that consolation may reflect a level of empathy unique to humans and apes.…”