When Chimps Attack
Some of you may know that in the dim past I supported wild chimpanzee research in Africa. My first day in the field, my research group was tracking the main body of chimps that included the Alpha Male, his “posse” and a large group of females. Late in the morning the group, including many females carrying young, began to climb trees with each chimp ascending a tree. At the top of the trees was a large group of red colobus monkeys that leapt from tree to tree attempting to escape from the chimps as they ascended.
Within minutes the air was filled with the scent of blood and wild screams as the chimp group attacked and decimated the red colobus group, wrenching baby monkeys from their mothers and killing them with a bite to the face. 11 monkey babies and juveniles were caught and killed by the wild chimps during that incident, one of many hunts and attacks that I witnessed that emphasized to me the following:
1. Chimps are strong.
2. Chimps are smart.
3. Kipling was spot-on when he wrote “nature red in tooth and claw”.
During our research, you never ever underestimated what chimps were capable of because when you did, you paid a price. Most of the time the price was small - a slap on the back or being hit by a tossed rock or branch - but some researchers have paid a much higher price.
Don’t get me wrong: I believe in chimpanzee conservation - but to me the term means protecting their habitat and leaving the things alone.
The people in this story obviously forgot what they were dealing with, and paid a high price as a result.
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