Chimpanzee Essay -- essays research papers

chimpThe acts of cannibalism and infanticide are very apparent in the lookof the chimpanzee. Many African studies show that wild chimpanzees kill and eliminateinfants of their own species. (Goodall, 1986151) Although there is not a clearanswer why chimps engage in this very violent and sometimes gruesome demeanourthere are many ideas and suggestions. This essay will deal with chimpanzeeaggression, cannibalism and infanticide. This paper will present information onmajor enquiry studies performed in Africa and analyze how and why this strangebehavior occurs in a commonly thought dovish primate.Wild chimpanzees(Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are cognise to kill and eatmammals in various parts of Africa. Monkeys were recorded to be consumed in theGombe matter Park, the Kasakati Basin, and the Budongo Forest. Moreover,there is new evidence that chimpanzees near the Ugalla River of Hesperian Tanzaniaalso consume mammals.(Riss, 1990167) Cannibalism has also been recorded bothin th e Budongo Forest, Mahale Mountains and the Gombe National Park.In Jane Goodalls, May 1979 article in the National Geographic called " vivificationand Death at Gombe" it reveals the first time that chimpanzees who were alwaysperceived to be playful, gentle monkeys, could suddenly become dangerous killers."I knew that some of our chimpanzees, so gentle for the most part, could onoccasion become savage killers, pitiless cannibals, and that they had their ownform of primitive warfare."(Goodall, 1979594) To try and explain this ruthlessbehavior it is necessary to first analyze their kindly upbringing and uniquelifestyle.The Chimpanzee society is clearly a male dominated aggressive social unit.Males are larger than females, they are more(prenominal)(prenominal) openly aggressive, and they play offmore often. (Holloway, 1974261)     These fights can look extremely fierce and     the victim screams loudly. But it is out of date& nbsp    for a fight between community members to last     longer than pass of a minute, and it is     even more unusual for such a fight to result     in serious injury.(Goodall, 19927)Many fights break out suddenly. later the loser of the fight, eventhough clearly fearful of the aggressor, will alm... ...s been no evidence revealing why chimpanzees act andbehave in this cannibalistic fashion. There are many theories and ideas butlike the theory of phylogenesis there is no one clear answer. Being the closestliving relative to the human being, chimpanzees exhibit complicated andintricate behavior payable to their advanced brains.(Zuckerman, 1932171) Thispaper has revealed that chimpanzees are creatures of great extremes aggressiveone moment, peaceful the next. This gruesome violent behavior can actually be cogitate to a similarity with human beings. It is widely accepted in thescientific community that ch impanzees are the closest human relatives we have.If we are indeed master copy to these primates, does it not stand to reason thathumans should be able to hold in from this violence and avoid it? Jane Goodall,in her article labeled, "Life and Death at Gombe" draws a similar conclusion     It is sobering that our new awareness of     chimpanzee violence compels us to acknowledge     that these ape cousins of ours are even more     similar to humans than we thought before.