If you think chimpanzees are cuddly, think again, for researchers claim that the mankind’s closest cousins in the animal world are ruthless killers with a taste for gang warfare.
A new study of wild chimpanzees found that gangs of the apes routinely attack rival chimps to seize their land and massacre their young, preserving their dominance, the Daily Mail reported.
Over the 10-year study, the researchers witnessed 18 attacks and found evidence of three others carried out by a large, male-dominated group of 150 chimps at Kibale National Park in Uganda. The attacks typically happened during stealthy scouting missions beyond the apes’ borders.
Dr Sylvia Amsler, from the University of Arkansas, who carried out field work for the study, has described one incident that occurred as she and a colleague followed a group of 28 chimps.
“Almost immediately upon making contact, the adult males in the patrol party began attacking the unknown females, two of whom were carrying dependent infants,” she was quoted by the British newspaper as saying.