Fighting Chimpanzee Wields Stick Like a Weapon

Continue reading...

It’s not unusual for chimpanzees to fight. Chimpanzee society is naturally aggressive and even violent. However, visitors at the Los Angeles Zoo probably didn’t expect this chimpanzee brawl to look like a sword fight. In the video above, one of the chimpanzees decides a stick makes a handy weapon to ward off and whack his attackers.

Chimpanzees and humans share around 98.8% of our DNA, making them our closest relatives. So, it’s no surprise that most scientists rank their intelligence second only to humans. Like their human cousins, chimps routinely attack others for resources or territory. However, is using weapons normal? Are chimps in the wild more aggressive than chimps in captivity? Keep reading to learn more about chimpanzee society and behavior.

Chimpanzee Society

Chimps in the wild live in large hierarchical communities led by a dominant male. These communities may have from 10 to over 100 members. Within the larger groups, the chimps form smaller groups whose members change frequently. Scientists refer to this as a “fission-fusion” society. They break into smaller groups during the day to more easily forage for food. Then they come back together at night to sleep, as the larger group affords greater protection from predators.

Researchers have discovered that the more mature males there are competing for resources and the higher the community’s population density, the more likely violence will occur. Most lethal encounters are territorial and take place between different communities. Groups of male chimpanzees band together to attack nearby communities. Fights are primarily hands-on, but an angry chimp will use anything it can get its hands on. Chimps have frequently been observed using rocks, sticks, and tree branches as weapons. One group in West Africa was even observed making sticks into spears.

Why Do Chimpanzees Get Angry?

Chimpanzees have amazing emotional intelligence. They experience joy, distress, jealousy, and grief, among other emotions. Chimps have also been shown to share food and offer empathy for other species, including humans. One study even found chimpanzees knew when other chimpanzees were suffering and offered comfort through grooming, spatial proximity, and increased interaction time. When chimps get angry, they throw a tantrum. They scream, run around, and destroy objects in their environments.

Competition for food, dominance fights, access to mates, and territory disputes are common triggers of chimpanzee aggression. Scientists have also discovered that chimps get angry when they think another chimp has harmed them. The chimpanzees in the study most often got upset when they were victims of theft by other chimps. They also retaliated by attacking the one who wronged them.

Anger Management

While some would tie chimp aggression to human interference, the bulk of the research over the last thirty years has shown aggression in chimpanzees is normal behavior. For chimps, violence is a means to an end. Fortunately, most encounters are not lethal. However, captive chimps exhibit more aggressive behavior than chimps in the wild. Confinement, unnatural social structures, and lack of environmental stimuli can exacerbate stress and conflict.

However, some scientists believe captive chimps also have a greater tendency toward reconciliation. Studies suggest chimpanzees use play fighting as a substitute for aggression and a way to re-establish friendly relations. It can also be a method to determine or retain dominance. Play fighting reduces tension in the group and avoids real fights. Although it is unclear from the video whether this was play fighting or a real conflict, our stick-wielding chimp successfully intimidated his rivals into backing down.