US EditionScientists Find Out Why Chimpanzees Kill Their Neighbors
A 15-year territorial expansion by Ngogo chimpanzees led to a rise from 15 to 37 births in three years and reduced infant mortality from 41% to 8%, researchers found.
- Researchers report that lethal intergroup aggression at Uganda's Kibale National Park provided territorial and reproductive gains for the Ngogo chimpanzee community, UCLA's Brian M. Wood and University of Michigan's John C. Mitani found in PNAS.
- Explaining the behaviour, the authors point to food and safety benefits as more land gave mothers better nutrition and reduced rival groups lowered infanticide risk to infants.
- Using decades-long data, researchers documented births rising to 37 across three years, based on more than 30 years of follow-up by Mitani and colleagues.
- The study provides the first direct evidence that coalitionary killing between groups linked to territorial gain and enhanced reproductive success in the Ngogo community.
- The study suggests the findings clarify evolutionary pressures shaping chimpanzee behaviour and inform debates on human cooperation and aggression, while long-term field studies reveal contrasts with human societies.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Did a Violent Land Grab Give These Chimps a Leg Up?
Invading others’ lands doesn’t pay. Or does it? For a population of wild chimps in Uganda, forcibly taking their neighbors’ lands seems to have paved the path to a better life. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . About 15 years ago, a group of chimpanzees known as the “Ngogo” in Kibale National Park, Uganda, went on a killing spree, invading neighboring territory and massacring 21 chimps from other groups. After t…
Chimpanzees expand territory to boost reproduction, long-term study finds
Fifteen years ago, researchers working deep in Uganda’s Kibale National Park watched something unsettling unfold. The Ngogo chimpanzees, one of the largest known chimp communities, began killing members of neighboring groups and pushing into their territory. The violence was clear. The motive was not. Why would chimps take such a risky step? What evolutionary payoff […] Continue reading Chimpanzees expand territory to boost reproduction, long-te…
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