Abstract
Hostile intercommunity relations, including attacking and killing extra-community infants of both sexes have occurred at most wild chimpanzee sites. We describe three recent cases of intercommunity attacks on infants committed by members of the Ngogo chimpanzee community in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Two of the attacks resulted in confirmed infanticides while a third attack probably resulted in the infant's death. In common with previous accounts of chimpanzee infanticides, the attacks described here occurred during boundary patrols outside the Ngogo community's usual range, adult and adolescent males were the main participants, one infant was cannibalized after being killed, and the victims’ mothers did not accompany the attacking party back to the Ngogo range. However, the patrol parties during each infanticide were larger than before and included females from the Ngogo community. Our observations indirectly support both the range expansion and imbalance of power hypotheses, which address why and under which conditions chimpanzee intercommunity encounters lead to aggression. These cases of intercommunity infanticide add to the growing database of the phenomenon in wild chimpanzees.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Arcadi, A., and Wrangham, R. (1999). Infanticide in chimpanzees: review of cases and a new within-group observation from the Kanyawara study group in Kibale National Park. Primates 40: 337–351.
Boesch, C., and Boesch-Achermann, H. (2000). The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest: Behavioural Ecology and Evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Bygott, D. (1972). Cannibalism among wild chimpanzees. Nature 238: 410–411.
Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. (1979). The Biology of War and Peace. Viking Press, New York.
Goodall, J. (1977). Infant-killing and cannibalism in free-living chimpanzees. Folia Primatol. 28: 259–282.
Goodall, J. (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Goodall, J., Bandora, A., Bergmann, E., Busse, C., Matama, H., Mpongo, E., Pierce, A., and Riss, D. (1979). Intercommunity interactions in the chimpanzee population of the Gombe National Park. In Hamburg, D., and McCown, E. (eds.), The Great Apes. Benjamin/Cummings, Menlo Park, CA, pp. 13–54.
Hooge, P. N., and Eichenlaub, B. (1997). Animal movement. Alaska Science Office, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK.
Hrdy, S. B. (1974). Male-male competition and infanticide among langurs (Presbytis entellus) of Abu, Rajasthan. Folia Primatol. 22: 19–58.
Mitani, J. C., and Watts, D. P. (2005) Correlates of territorial boundary patrol behaviour in wild chimpanzees. Animal Behaviour. 70: 1079--1086.
Newton-Fisher, N. (1999). Infant killers of Budongo. Folia Primatol. 70: 167–169.
Nishida, T. (1968). The social group of wild chimpanzees in the Mahale mountains. Primates 9: 167–224.
Nishida, T. (1979). The social structure of chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains. In Hamburg, D. A., and McCown, E. R. (eds.), The Great Apes. Benjamin/Cummings, Menlo Park, CA, pp. 73–122.
Nishida, T., Uehara, S., and Nyundo, R. (1979). Predatory behavior among wild chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains. Primates 20: 1–20.
Pepper, J. W., Mitani, J. C., and Watts, D. P. (1999). General gregariousness and specific social preferences among wild chimpanzees. Int. J. Primatol. 20: 613–632.
Pusey, A. E. (2001). Of genes and apes. In de Waal, F. B. M. (ed.), Tree of Origin. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 9–38.
Sherrow, H. M., Watts, D. P., and Mitani, J. C. (2002). Hunting behavior of adolescent male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 34(Suppl): 140.
Struhsaker, T. T. (1997). Ecology of an African Rainforest. University of Florida Press, Gainsville.
Watts, D., and Mitani, J. (2000). Infanticide and cannibalism by male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Primates 41: 357–365.
Watts, D. P., and Mitani, J. C. (2001). Boundary patrols and intergroup encounters in wild chimpanzees. Behaviour 138: 299–327.
Watts, D. P., Muller, M. N., Amsler, S. A., Mbabazi, G., and Mitani, J. C. (2006). Lethal intergroup aggression by chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Am. J. Primatol. 68: 161--180.
Watts, D. P., Mitani, J. C., and Sherrow, H. M. (2002). New cases of inter-community infanticide by male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Primates 43: 263–270.
Williams, J. (1999). Female Strategies and the Reasons for Territoriality in Chimpanzees: Lessons from Three Decades of Research at Gombe. Ph.D. thesis, University of Minnesota.
Williams, J. M., Oehlert, G., and Pusey, A. E. (2004). Why do male chimpanzees defend a group range? Anim. Behav. 68: 523–532.
Wilson, M. L., Hauser, M. D., and Wrangham, R. W. (2001). Does participation in intergroup conflict depend on numerical assessment, range location, or rank for wild chimpanzees? Anim. Behav. 61, 1203–1216.
Wilson, M. L., Wallauer, W. R., and Pusey, A. E. (2004). New cases of intergroup violence among chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Int. J. Primatol. 25: 523–549.
Wrangham, R. W. (1999). Evolution of coalitionary killing. Yrbk Phys. Anthropol. 42: 1–30.
Wrangham, R. W. (2000). Why are male chimpanzees more gregarious than mothers? A scramble competition hypothesis. In Kappeler, P. M. (ed.), Primate Males: Causes and Consequences of Variation in Group Composition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 248–258.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Uganda National Council for Science and Technology for permission to conduct research in Kibale. We are grateful to Makerere University Biological Field Station and its Directors, Professors Basuta and Kasenene, for their sponsorship and support. We thank Professors Mitani and Watts for the opportunity to work at Ngogo; they have been sources of continual support and guidance. We thank Dr. Jeremiah Lwanga, who is not only a good friend but also a great advisor and companion while in the field. A. Magoba, G. Mbabazi, L. Ndagizi, and A. Tumusiime provided invaluable assistance in the field. Two anonymous reviewers contributed to the improvement of this report. The L. S. B. Leakey Foundation, the American Society of Primatologists, the Sigma Xi Foundation, and the John F. Enders Foundation supported H. Sherrow. The Little Rock Zoo, The Little Rock chapter of The American Association of Zookeepers, The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, and Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan supported S. Amsler.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sherrow, H.M., Amsler, S.J. New Intercommunity Infanticides by the Chimpanzees of Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Int J Primatol 28, 9–22 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-006-9112-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-006-9112-6