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An interspecies primate war may be unfolding before our eyes.
It's truly a wild time in the animal kingdom! Chimpanzees and gorillas have coexisted peacefully for many years, but in February of 2019 researchers were shocked to witness a vicious act of violence in Gabon's Loango National Park.
The researchers, from Osnabrück University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, were studying the behavior of the chimpanzees in the national park when they observed more than two dozen attack five unprovoked western lowland gorillas (one silverback, three adult females and an infant). The near hour-long fight between the two groups cost the life of the infant gorilla, which was captured and beaten to death by the chimpanzees.
It was even more shocking when the traumatizing event repeated itself in December of that year, in the same park in Central Africa. This time, 27 chimpanzees went up against seven gorillas in a fight that lasted about 79 minutes and resulted in another helpless infant gorilla being killed. It's unclear whether the same chimpanzees were also involved in the first incident. Regardless, the question of what caused these ruthless attacks remains. To get to the bottom of it, let's take a look at the rich history and relationship of these two species.
Continued below.
Why Are Chimpanzees and Gorillas Suddenly Going to War?
It's truly a wild time in the animal kingdom! Chimpanzees and gorillas have coexisted peacefully for many years, but in February of 2019 researchers were shocked to witness a vicious act of violence in Gabon's Loango National Park.
The researchers, from Osnabrück University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, were studying the behavior of the chimpanzees in the national park when they observed more than two dozen attack five unprovoked western lowland gorillas (one silverback, three adult females and an infant). The near hour-long fight between the two groups cost the life of the infant gorilla, which was captured and beaten to death by the chimpanzees.
It was even more shocking when the traumatizing event repeated itself in December of that year, in the same park in Central Africa. This time, 27 chimpanzees went up against seven gorillas in a fight that lasted about 79 minutes and resulted in another helpless infant gorilla being killed. It's unclear whether the same chimpanzees were also involved in the first incident. Regardless, the question of what caused these ruthless attacks remains. To get to the bottom of it, let's take a look at the rich history and relationship of these two species.
Continued below.
Why Are Chimpanzees and Gorillas Suddenly Going to War?
