WHEN THE CHIMPANZEES FOUGHT A 'BLOODY WAR' FOR FOUR YEARS AFTER A BRUTAL KILLING
"Did You Know That Chimpanzees Once Fought A 'Bloody War' With Other Chimpanzees Of Their Own Species For Four Years In Which A Lot Of Blood Was Shed?"
To date only one fight between two groups of wild chimpanzees has been documented. This 'bloody war' of chimpanzees started with a brutal killing.
It was January 1974 and a chimpanzee named Goody was eating breakfast on a tree branch in Tanzania's Gombe National Park. Goody was busy with his meal when he was surrounded by eight other chimpanzees.
One of the eight chimpanzees held him by the feet and the other by the hands. They pushed Goody to the ground and then started beating him. The attack on Goody lasted for more than five minutes and when they released him he was barely able to move.
After the attack, Gowdy was never seen again.
According to the famous British primatologist Jane Goodall, this brutal incident was the beginning of the 'Four Years' War' between the chimpanzees.
The war that divided the chimpanzee community in Gombe National Park sparked a wave of killings and violence never seen again.
Joseph Feldbloom, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, said in a statement that the true nature and causes of the incident remain a 'mystery'.
Last month, Professor Feldbloom led a study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology which tells a story of 'power, desire and jealousy' among chimpanzees that led to this bloody war.
MAN'S LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF APES
Primatologist Jane Goodall changed everything we thought we knew about chimpanzees (and humans) through her studies, he says. They found that these monkeys make and use tools. Their language is primitive and they can understand what their peers are thinking.
Professor Jane Goodall also discovered how cruel these animals can be.
It took four years to document the snatching, beating and killing of each other between the two chimpanzee groups Kasakela and Kahama in the north and south of the park.
For example, a third of the male chimpanzees in Gombe National Park were killed by other chimpanzees at the time.
Professor Jane Goodall said in a BBC documentary that 'this war made chimpanzees like us'.
Duke University said in a statement that, according to these theories, 'there were two communities of chimpanzees living in Gombe National Park before Professor Goodall began his research. The food given to these chimpanzees from the center established for this research brought them together organically and established a temporary peace among them.'
But something else was going on behind the scenes, according to new findings from a team at Duke and Arizona State University.
FROM FRIENDSHIP TO ENMITY
In the new study, researchers observed that the relationships of 19 chimpanzees in Gombe National Park had been changing since seven years before the fight.
The scientists looked at the chimpanzees' relationships to come to this conclusion and found that two of the chimpanzees were mates with the male chimpanzees and that they came together for meals at the research center more often than other chimpanzee pairs.
Duke University cited the study as saying that their analysis showed that during the early years, between 1967 and 1970, the two species of chimpanzees interbred.
Then some chimpanzees started spending time in the northern part of the park and some in the southern part. This community of chimpanzees began to diverge from here.
By 1972, male chimpanzees were mating with female chimpanzees of both groups. These groups were Kaskela or Kahama.
The scientists observed that whenever the chimpanzees from the two groups met, they would start throwing branches at each other, shouting and showing off their strength.
Anne Posey, Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University, was there, along with Professor Jane Goodall. "We used to hear sounds coming from the south as if they were saying 'Southern male chimpanzees are coming!'" he said.
'Back then in the north everyone would climb trees and make a lot of noise and show off their strength,' says Professor Anne.
THREE CHIMPANZEES CAUSING A FIGHT
Researchers believe the conflict arose from a 'power struggle' between three male chimpanzees. Among them were a male chimpanzee named Humphrey and his southern rivals, male chimpanzees named Charlie and Hugh.
Professor Ann says Humphrey was big and known to throw stones, 'he could intimidate Charlie and Hugh in private, but he wouldn't get in their way when they were together.'
According to the research, the number of female chimpanzees in Gombe National Park was unusually low at the time, which made it more likely that male chimpanzees would struggle for dominance over each other.
But this fight was not limited to these three opposing male chimpanzees, but affected the mutual relations of the chimpanzees regardless of age or sex.
However, the researchers acknowledge that the lack of other such events in nature makes it difficult to compare the new findings.
"The situation in Gombe National Park at that time was terrible," Professor Jain said in his documentary. He admitted that his observatory had caused an 'increase in violence' among the chimpanzees.
In the words of Professor Jane Goodall, 'I think the tragic thing is to witness the process in which one dominant group exterminates another and takes over territory.'
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