Balance
July 25, 2014 by J.B. -
Chimpanzees have a well-deserved reputation for being aggressive. They fight over food, over sex, and over territory. They fight for dominance and out of jealousy.
Sometimes I don’t think they even know why they are fighting – some fights among the seven end with all of them standing in a circle, screaming and looking around at each other as if to see if anyone else remembers what they are fighting about.
But as violent as chimps may be, fights are relatively infrequent. They are much more likely to be hugging,
and kissing,
and grooming,
and holding hands (and feet).
I used to think it was strange that animals capable of such extreme violence could be so tender and gentle. But I’m beginning to think it’s precisely because they are so violent that they are also so tender and gentle. A society with that level of aggression would not last long without an equally powerful force holding it together.
17 Comments
Subscribe to the Blog and
Get Notified of New Posts First!
If you like what see, be sure to subscribe. Personally written by the caregivers themselves, 365 days a year, you’ll get an insiders glimpse of all the goings on at the sanctuary. Follow us!
They are just like us. Jane Goodall said , she didn’t like to see their dark side because it reminded her of us (People). As I read about chimps and watch docs on them, I am getting it. I know they are not entirely like us, but we have a lot of similarities , I think that some people who think they can have chimps as pets are sadly mistaken on how different they are from us. They are wild animals. I agree they do not make good pets. who knows really. I guess that makes them more similar, because they do not make good pets. Well I would not make a good pet neither. LOL Have a great weekend everyone. I am exhausted.
When they do fight, how do they resolve it? How do they decide it’s over?
Are some more willing to be peacemakers?
Hi Nancy – There are many ways in which chimpanzees resolve conflicts. The loser will often submit to the winner through certain gestures or postures. One of the most notable things about reconciliation in chimps is that it often occurs almost immediately after the conflict – a period where some of us humans would prefer sulk and avoid interaction. If you’re interested in learning more, I would recommend Frans de Waal’s Peacemaking Among Primates as a good primer on the subject. Many primatologists have made careers out of studying reconciliation and we’ve learned a great deal about it over the last 30 or 40 years.
In terms of how they decide when it’s over, I would say it depends on the cause of the conflict. Squabbles usually end before anyone gets hurt once someone feels they’ve made their point. But a fight for the alpha position between the leader and a challenger may not end until someone is too injured to fight, or until the injuries mount and it becomes clear who will win. Sometimes fights end when the rest of the group picks a side, and one side outnumbers the other. And other times the fights seem to end in a stalemate, when no one wants to escalate things any further but no one has made any gains.
In our group, Foxie is most likely to play peacemaker, especially when the girls are mad at Burrito.
J.B. I have the idea that sometimes Negra wil often sit apart from the fight and at some point she will announce that the fight is to end with a loud and long hoot. Is this true?
Hi Margaret – Yes, that’s true. She waits until most of the screaming and fighting has died down, and then she lets out a loud pant hoot. It seems to me to be the equivalent of “the fight is over, so shut the heck up already.”
I could just picture the whole lot of them standing in a circle screaming at each other and then I scrolled down and saw the photo of 4 of them. But that photo of Burrito giving hugs got me right in the heart strings! He probably feels out numbered the majority of the time being the only male but I’m glad to see him spreading the love and the fact I added him as my second Pal! 😉
I am very curious about chimpanzee fights. I have seen videos and have read about them. Seeing your chimps in these snip-its of their everyday life it becomes hard for me to imagine the 7 fighting. I have wanted to inquire about this topic so thank you for this post J.B.
Your reply to Nancy Lewis is interesting. Thanks for the tip on Frans de Waal’s book Peacemaking Among Primates. I just purchased his book Chimpanzee Politics. (Please feel free to post your favorite chimp reads! I am collecting a library.)
Do the gals really gang up on poor Burrito often and do these altercations result in big fights or just Squabbles? With Jamie as the Alpha, does anyone ever try to challenge her role? And if Foxie is the peacemaker, what is involved in that role? How does one make peace with all the screaming, posturing, and zooming about going on during a fight? ……. And who is the chimp up high in the first photo? Yikes, she looks scared!
Hi Kathleen,
Yes, one of the problems with accurately representing the chimps’ lives through the blog is that quiet or playful moments are much more likely to be captured on camera than conflicts. Part of the reason is that we are usually watching for injuries during conflicts, but the other reason is that we don’t want to be sticking cameras in their faces when they are fighting – we try as best we can to remove the human element from these situations.
The girls used to gang up on Burrito a lot, but he has become much more politically savvy. Squabbles are frequent (a few a day, I would guess), but serious injuries are rare. However, they do happen. Jody had her toe bitten off and Missy had her upper lip split in two. We administer antibiotics to someone every 3-4 months on average due to wounds from fighting. Typically, the more stable the group, the fewer injuries you have. But when the chimps in the group grew up without any proper social experience (raised by humans, kept alone in cages, etc), and the make-up of the group is far from what is typical in the wild, you would expect a bit more instability.
I wouldn’t say that anyone has tried to challenge Jamie for the alpha position, but they do get sick of her and stand up to her every once and a while. Usually it’s Jody, but lately it has been Annie (which is surprising, since she is the least dominant). I would get sick of living with Jamie, too.
Peacemaking is usually done by offering reassurance to both parties, or by defending someone that is outnumbered. When Burrito is in trouble, Foxie will often rush into the fray and give him a hug, which helps calm him down and signals to the other girls that it’s not a free-for-all against the lone male.
That’s Missy in the first photo, clinging to the caging. She does look scared, but usually is among the attackers. In fact, Missy seems to pick a side based on whoever is winning at the time 🙂
Thank you J.B. for all this info. Chimp culture is fascinating to me. And I totally understand why you are not filming conflicts! I just personally find it all interesting and the more I learn the more questions I have.
I assume that since you haven’t introduced anyone new into the group, and the chimps can not breed, also guarantees a little more stability? Six years has allowed them all to form and shift and grow into who they are and who they are with each other. It is interesting to discover the chimps roles in a time of conflict. Thank you very much for this post and all of your replies. I now see The 7 in a slightly different light (and love them all the more!).
Hearing that Annie is standing up to Alpha Jamie blows my mind! My how Annie has grown socially. There have been so many beautiful surprises this year. Annie finding courage and inner strength, Negra braving new adventures on Young’s Hill and climbing to the platform, Jamie finding her inner silly with friends — it all brings me such joy.
Thank you. What a perfect commentary.
Bravo. Dianna. a lot of pondering in this blog entry. Speaking of our ties to our closest telatives. that last photo is a perfect image of a human Olympian on a balance beam. except this non-human has toes to hold on to a flexible rope. We Are One with Them. Their courage, daring and their resilience are enviable.
Diana, I always enjoy your posts. You have a way of coming to a topic from a different angle and taking the reader on a unique journey, tying together your thoughts and the chimps experiences and everyday life. The significance of your conclusions always hits home with me. Especially today.
Thanks for the end photos of Jamie, a master of balancing on her tightrope firehose and someone who knows a thing or two about being picked up when her existence hit the ground in a less than gentle way. Jamie does as Jamie pleases now. One day at a time, surrounded by those who truly appreciate her for everything she is.
What a lovely post, Diana. Gentle, like yoga.
I am the Queen of PT. I reached a point where I had worked with or knew most of the PTs on staff at the hospital, lol. A bad disc 23 yrs ago (prescription: essentially yoga), a torn LCL, one touchy meniscus after trying to ease into running, then tore the other one on a 3 beaches walk, how I don’t know. Oh, well… the good side is, I lost my hatred of going to hospitals!
Always the resilience…they know there will be another day. Another jog around the hill. At some point, another party. And they know you’ll be there. You’re as constant in their lives as the sun and night bags.
Side note: the photo of Bubba makes it look as though he stole Missy’s gray teardrop from her back! Maybe it’s just the angle.
Heads up, this didn’t come through on an email push. I got worried and came looking for it. :slight_smile:
Til next Sunday, have a good week!
Apologies, Diana, it did go through, into the “deleted”. Must have been a clumbsy thumbsy on my part
Wise :purple_heart:
Loved the photos and the text!
Excellent post Diana! I wish I had more of the joie de vivre that Burrito especially has!