Animals
Chimpanzee Gangs Kill for Land
By Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior Writerposted: 21 June 2010 12:01 pm ET
Chimp-on-chimp attacks in the wild are very common, especially among small packs of males on patrol. Now research suggests the motive for these crimes is to gain territory.
To understand this violence, researchers studied a large group of chimpanzees living in Ngogo, Kibale National Park in Uganda. After monitoring the group for over a decade, scientists counted 21 chimp-on-chimp murders.
Of those crimes, the researchers witnessed 18 directly, and deduced three from circumstantial evidence. They think as many as 13 of the victims belonged to a single neighboring group.
"The take-home is clear and simple," said researcher John Mitani of the University of Michigan. "Chimpanzees kill each other. They kill their neighbors. Up until now, we have not known why. Our observations indicate that they do so to expand their territories at the expense of their victims."
.... Chimpanzee Gangs Kill for Land | LiveScience
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