Do animals, similar to humans, experience the intricate and delicate emotion of jealousy? Recent studies have responded to this query with a “yes.”
In 2021, a group of researchers tracked and studied a family of Chacma baboons, a species of primate, in a wildlife reserve located in Namibia, southern Africa. The team regularly recorded footage of young monkeys vying for their mother’s attention. The young primates exhibited behaviors similar to humans, such as throwing fits, positioning themselves between the mother and a younger sibling, and cleverly calling out a younger sibling who was with the mother to play, thereby taking the empty space.
The findings, which examined hundreds of observations of competitive behavior in monkeys, were released in the Proceedings of the Royal Society on the 11th. Dr. Axel Delaunay’s group, working alongside researchers from the University of Montpellier in France, Namibia, and the UK, discovered that competition among monkeys was more common when the mother was engaged in grooming or taking care of another sibling, rather than when she was not moving. The likelihood of interference was double when the groomed sibling was younger, and it happened more often between individuals of the same gender.
Having examined multiple theories that might account for this behavior, the researchers determined that the most plausible explanation was envy. Specialists remarked, “There has been an ongoing discussion regarding whether animals are capable of experiencing intricate emotions similar to humans, but this research will serve as one of the most compelling proofs.”
Previous research has indicated that animals might experience jealousy. A study featured in *Nature* involved giving a grape to one monkey while asking another to hand over a stone to get a grape. Consequently, 80% of the monkeys asked to give the stone declined to participate, with some showing signs of anger. The researchers noted, “The monkeys may have felt a sense of unfairness regarding the reward disparity or experienced jealousy.”
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