Humans, chimps, war, and peace
I’ve been “surrounded” by apes and monkeys for several weeks now as I read up on primate behavior as part of a UP course preparation for biological anthropology.
This includes comparative studies of primates: monkeys, apes, and humans. Fortunately for the students, there’s been so much coming out in science journals as well as on streaming video, notably Netflix, on primates, humans included, since apes and monkeys are our closest non-human relatives.
Last week, I picked up from one of the Netflix films, “A Gorilla Story,” about social relations—yes, primates are very social and sosyal. Today, we take off from another documentary, a grand four-episode production about chimpanzees, which could have been titled “Chimp War and Peace.” Consider it an ape version of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” Seriously, it’s a long production and not always easy to follow—the apes are given names, and it’s hard to remember who’s who.
But “Chimp Empire” is very real, documenting two groups of chimpanzees living in the Ngogo forests in Uganda, based on a 24-year research project led by Aaron Sandel of the University of Texas at Austin. They used to be just one group but split into two in a violent conflict.
Sandel warns about the words used, in particular “war” and “civil war,” which we humans know only too well. Sandel says this chimp conflict isn’t quite a civil war. The many different groups of chimps scattered across Africa are known to live harmoniously with “fission-fusion dynamics. During the day, they form temporary groups, moving in and out of territories across shared territories, and then return together at the end of the day.
They live in hierarchies, with males dominated by an older alpha leader. Females live with their mother’s group and then leave their territorial land at adolescence to form new families. Males and females move together in hunting groups and cooperate in many activities, including child-rearing.
In 2015, conflict rose between two clusters with growing attacks and killings. A “western” group, according to the most recent report, made 24 attacks, killing seven mature males and 17 infants in a “central” group. It remains unclear how the conflict first started, other than the tensions being territorial, and the split between the two groups is now permanent, with the western group becoming the aggressors. At the same time, within each cluster, there are also conflicts among the males between the older and younger alphas and competition for the alpha position.
The males do affiliate themselves with older ones in what we would call sipsip (sycophantic) relationships, rendering intense loyalty but waiting for a chance to grab the alpha position. What do they do to bond? They groom each other, picking out fleas. Kinukuto. (For human equivalents, watch the imperial Trump and his two loyalists, Vice President JD Vance and State Secretary Marco Rubio.)
The documentary reaches its climax in a violent episode where the aging alpha from the “westerners” is ferociously attacked by the enemy camp, marking an end to his rule and raising questions about succession in leadership.
The scientists who have been following this decade-long war can only speculate about the future, and wonder if the origins of human “war” might be similar to that of chimps or if chimps turn on each other because of human-like factors—is it just territory, mating, or even the entry of humans into chimpanzee territory that upsets access to food resources?
I’ve wondered if it is, in fact, the absence of human “institutions,” especially the ability to mediate and to find peace. (On the other hand, we’ve seen how humans like Trump can be worse when it comes to starting and aggravating wars.)
There was a scene in “Chimp Empire” showing how a younger male, after a fight with an older alpha male, approaches the “manong/kuya” (my local terms) and begins to groom the kuya, restoring their friendship. Grooming for peace is quite common among animals (just watch your dogs and cats).
Or it could be a “natural” succession, filling in a leadership gap when an alpha male dies. The documentary refers to the passing of the alpha male in one group, who was mortally injured in an encounter. As this alpha male is dying, the younger ones show up almost as if to pay tribute as well as position themselves within the new social hierarchy.
—————-
michael.tan@inquirer.net
