Chimpanzees and gorillas live peacefully side by side. But sometimes they make real incursions into the opposite area. Nothing good will come of this, of course. Then there is fighting between gorillas and chimpanzees. Really deadly fights. It was discovered by a team of German researchers.
Losses in battle
It was discovered in the Loanga National Park in Gabon. In 2019 there was some conflict between these two species of hominin. Both times the chimpanzees outnumbered the gorillas. They were also the instigators of the attacks. And a baby gorilla died in both fights.
The study comes from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Shed light on the motivations for these Monkey Wars.
“The presence of chimpanzees can have deadly effects on gorillas. Now let’s examine the factors that trigger these interactions. They are surprisingly aggressive, ”emphasizes Tobias Deschner. Study primates in high school.
When were gorilla chimpanzee battles recorded for the first time? It was December 2019. 27 chimpanzees took on seven gorillas, including one raised back. The brawl lasted 79 minutes.
The chimpanzees won this round. They took one of the boys and killed him. In the second incident, another baby gorilla fell victim to the same monkey.
These strange battles are recorded on video. They raise many unknowns about chimpanzee motives. Why invaded territory controlled by gorillas?
Territorial warfare
“Perhaps they are competing for food resources in Loango Park,” suspects Deschner. They also don’t rule out attacking gorillas in order to take one of the young as prey. It’s possible it was a battle for territory.
In any case, the researchers admit that they are just getting started. Much remains to be explored about the habitat of our distant relatives. But apparently they are not that different from us in the not too distant past.
