Apes cuddle each other when upset like humans Mother-reared juveniles performed far better in this regard than juveniles orphaned at a young age, thus highlighting the importance of the mother - offspring bond. Our results support a shared socio-emotional framework for human and non-human primate behaviour. Professor De Waal said: "We found indeed that bonobos who keep screaming and screaming after their own distress are the same ones who show little concern for the distress of others. Those who overcome distress easily pay more attention to others. We also found that orphans, who have not had the benefit of a mother helping them regulate emotions, are much worse in consoling others than mother-reared bonobos. It is 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.