The shocking video that shows how chimps deal with a tyrant: Ex-leader who tried to make a comeback is held down, tortured and EATEN
- Chimpanzee named Foudouko was beaten, killed, and partially eaten by group
- While they're known to kill members of other tribes, internal killings are rare
- Researchers say it may be the result of heightened sexual competition
First they heard the loud screams coming from a nearby sleep nest early one morning – then at dawn, scientists at the Fongoli chimpanzee study site discovered a horrific scene.
The gruesome remains of a West African chimpanzee named Foudouko were found still bleeding hours after his death, with evidence that he had been beaten, killed, and partially cannibalized by members of his own community.
While chimpanzees are known to kill rivals from other tribes, intragroup murders such as this are extremely rare, with just nine cases on record to date.
Researchers say the unusual ratio of adult males to females in this particular group may have given rise to the grisly encounter, as competition to reproduce intensified.
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The gruesome remains of a West African chimpanzee named Foudouko were found still bleeding hours after his death, with evidence that he had been beaten, killed, and partially cannibalized by members of his own community
In a paper published to the International Journal of Primatology, the researchers detail the attack which lasted even after Foudouko was dead.
There were ‘attacks by multiple chimpanzees on his dead body, most frequently by a young adult male and an older female,' the authors wrote.
‘The latter also cannibalized the body.’
Stomach-churning footage of the aftermath shows the group biting and aggressively pulling at the body.
Foudouko’s body was found bleeding profusely from a bite to his right foot, with a large gash on his back, a ripped anus, cracked ribs, and finger wounds from the attackers’ teeth as they clamped down to stretch his arms and hold him down, according to New Scientist.
The researchers suspect he died of internal injuries, or bled out from his wounded foot.
And, they say he was beaten with rocks and sticks long after he died, as the chimpanzees continued on to break his limbs and even ate some of his flesh.
‘It was striking,’ Jill Pruetz of Iowa State University, who has been studying the group since 2001, told New Scientist.
‘The female that cannibalized the body the most, she’s the mother of the top two high-ranking males.
‘Her sons were the only ones that really didn’t attack the body aggressively.’
In a paper published to the International Journal of Primatology , the researchers detail the attack which lasted even after Foudouko was dead. There were ‘attacks by multiple chimpanzees on his dead body, most frequently by a young adult male and an older female'
In chimp communities, there are typically more adult females than males.
But at this site, which is part of the Fongoli Savanna Chimpanzee Project in Senegal, the males outnumber their potential mates at roughly two to one.
This, in large part, may be the result of human activity, as females are poached to provide infants for the pet trade, New Scientist reports.
Foudouko once led the group as one of its alpha males, alongside a beta male named Mamadou, and was ‘somewhat of a tyrant,’ according to Pruetz.
After Mamadou was injured in 2007, causing him to separate from the group for weeks and subsequently return in a lower rank, Foudouko was ostracized for their continued alliance.
The researchers suspect he died of internal injuries, or bled out from his injured foot. And, they say he was beaten with rocks and sticks even long after he died, as the chimpanzees continued on to break his limbs and even ate some of his flesh
Foudouko was eventually kicked out of the group, and lived alone for years.
With low prospective for finding a mate, Foudouko rejoined the group, where Mamadou had climbed back up to beta status, and his brother David had become alpha.
While they accepted him back, some members of the group still sometimes chased him off, according to New Scientist.
The researchers say Foudouko was trying to rise back up to power, a ‘foolish’ move.
And, his old comrade Mamadou was observed attempting to wake the dead chimp following the attack – but the chimpanzee has since been exiled, too.
- Chimps beat up, murder and then cannibalise their former tyrant | New Scientist
- Intragroup Lethal Aggression in West African Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus): Inferred Killing of a Former Alpha Male at Fongoli, Senegal | SpringerLink
- The nature of prosociality in chimpanzees : Nature Communications
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