In a stunning revelation, a community of chimpanzees at Uganda’s Kibale National Park has been engulfed in a relentless “civil war “for the past eight years. The Ngogo chimpanzees, once a tight-knit group, have been locked in fierce conflict, according to a study published in the journal Science.
The exact reason behind the animosity among the Ngogo chimpanzees remains unclear. However, since 2018, researchers have documented 24 killings, including the tragic deaths of 17 infants. The lead author, Aaron Sandel, an anthropologist from the University of Texas, describes the situation as a stark contrast to the past: “These were chimps that would hold hands.
Now they’re trying to kill each other.”Sandel, co-director of the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project, emphasizes the territorial nature of chimpanzees and their propensity for aggressive interactions with strangers. Despite this, he notes that the Ngogo chimpanzees had coexisted harmoniously for decades.
It was in June 2015 that Sandel first observed the emergence of division within the group, with the Western chimpanzees being chased away by the Central group.
The situation escalated following the separation of the two groups in 2018. Members of the Western group began to attack their Central counterparts. The study found that in 24 targeted attacks, at least seven adult males and 17 infants from the Central chimps were killed, although the actual number of deaths is believed to be higher.
Several factors are thought to have contributed to the conflict, including the group’s size, competition for resources, and male-male competition for reproduction. The researchers identified three likely catalysts: the deaths of five adult males and one adult female in 2014, a change in the alpha male in 2015, and a respiratory epidemic that killed 25 chimpanzees in 2017.
Sandel and his colleagues argue that their findings challenge our understanding of human conflict and warfare. The Ngogo chimpanzees’behavior suggests that relational dynamics may play a more significant role in human conflict than is often assumed. James Brooks, a researcher at the German Primate Center, agrees, noting that the study serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of group divisions within human societies.
