There has been a lot of discussion of chimpanzee aggression this past week. A baby
chimpanzee was killed in front of zoo visitors by a male chimpanzee at the LA Zoo
and a graduate student who had just begun working with chimpanzees was
horrifically attacked by two male chimpanzees at Chimp Eden in South
Africa. Journalists and much of
the general public are shocked.
Most people familiar with chimpanzees are responding to the shock by
explaining that chimpanzees are stronger than humans, that aggression is a part
of their natural behavioral repertoire, that chimpanzees are not domesticated and will
never be “tamed.”
I think there is more to it.
The aggressors are captive male chimpanzees who have not yet
mellowed with age (some older male chimpanzees can be remarkably caring and
sweet – but no one should let their guard down around them nonetheless. This is one
especially sweet old guy, Keo, who turned 54 this week. He is the oldest male chimpanzee in captivity).
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| Keo at the Lincoln Park Zoo (c) Steve Ross |
Captivity is stressful. Even the best captive conditions are stressful, and from
what I gather, both the LA Zoo and Chimp Eden are among the places that really
take chimpanzee well-being into account.
One very serious stressor for chimpanzees is being exposed
to new people, whether those people are unfamiliar humans or chimpanzees. At zoos, having new people constantly in one’s
environment is a significant stressor. The stress level
during introductions between chimpanzees is always high, and a new baby
inevitably causes shifts in group dynamics, which also adds to the
tension. Add zoo visitors
gawking and oohing and ahhing at the new baby and, well, the sad outcome at the LA Zoo could
have been predicted. But that it was predictable,
doesn’t mean it is the same as infanticide in the wild. No one really knows enough about
infanticide in the wild. Maybe one
cause is stress. To point to infanticide
in the wild as an explanation for what happened at the zoo, seems simplistic
and wrong-headed.
Captive
chimpanzees engage in very different behavior than wild chimpanzees. To take just one obvious example, no
one would walk among captive chimpanzees in the way that primatologists have
been doing at field sites throughout Africa for decades.
Perhaps that slippage contributed to the tragedy at Chimp
Eden, where the young graduate student was horribly mauled. This incident also involved a lot of
new people and territorial issues with captive chimpanzees. The student was new
to the facility, he was lecturing to visitors to the sanctuary, and he was
standing in an area (with his back to the chimpanzees?) where he should not
have been.
Yes, chimpanzees are aggressive. But captive chimpanzee aggression is different than wild
chimpanzee aggression. It would be
interesting to learn more about each.
Aggression is just one part of captive chimpanzee
behavior. Another big part of
their behavior is their compassion, courage, wisdom, and humor. And in some rare
circumstances it makes sense for those who know them very well to interact directly
with them. This is what Gloria
Grow did when beloved Pepper was dying.
I’m glad she was able to be with Pepper in this way. It was a tribute to the depth of their
relationship and Pepper’s profoundly “good” nature that Gloria was able to intimately
hold her as she left this world.
Please read her memorial tribute here. RIP Pepper.
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| Pepper (c) Frank Noelker |
