Thursday, August 17, 2006

 

Chimpanzee IV

Chimp communities are made up of 15 to 120 animals. These communities lack a definite leader and are usually split into a number of subgroups which are temporary and change in composition within a matter of hours or days ("fusion-fission" groups). Mothers often travel alone with only their offspring. Males seldom or never leave the community into which they were born, whereas most females migrate to a new community during an adolescent estrus period. In male relationships, tension is routinely expressed in dominance interactions when parties meet, but males also spend much time grooming each other. They form a loose dominance hierarchy.
For sleeping at night, each chimp (except infants who nest with their mothers) constructs a nest of vegetation 9-12 meters high in a tree. Males may hunt cooperatively for baby monkeys or bush pigs and even "share" some of the meat. Goodall has documented serious territorial fights.

Bibliography:
De Waal, Frans. 1982. Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes

Comments: Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?