Friday, August 08, 2008
Monkey up for grabs
Longitude: 29.6272  Latitude:-4.6574

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Editor's note: This entry is from Emily, who traveled to Gombe to study paternity. It pre-dates the recent events involving Gaia.

When the colobus carcass went up for grabs, Fanni was able to snag it. (Photo: JGI)

This morning the chimps went on the hunt early, and quickly captured several colobus monkeys. I was having a hard time finding and keeping a target to follow. They were widely dispersed in the machaka, and there was a lot of chaos and running about in difficult terrain. Sometimes it is more frustrating to be with the chimpanzees but not be able to make quality observations than to search for chimpanzees.

Finally, I managed to locate Titan, who had snuck down into the valley to feed on his bit of carcass. At first he was alone with females – I think it was in order to avoid the harassment of the bigger, stronger males. But his hiding spot was found by the males Wilkie, Tubi, Sheldon, Kris, and Ferdinand, who came crashing in. Titan took out his frustrations on poor Gaia, displaying at her several times, and even striking her, while Gaia screamed, fear-grinned, trying to evade the abuse.

After Titan, I followed his younger brother, Tarzan, who was orphaned after the death of his mother Pattim but is doing well. Tarzan had a much quieter day, relaxing in the tree and then huddling under the leafy branches during a rain. But once the rain was over, he was more than happy to play with one-year-old Zinda.

Soon enough the search was on for another target to follow. This was no easy task, as the chimps had dispersed again into different spots about the valley to consume their monkeys. By this point, many had climbed up tall leafy trees to relax and eat. I finally located Fudge, who was with his mother and Apollo, consuming the last bits of a colobus carcass. Apollo  was on the ground while Fudge, his mother, and some other females were in the tree with the meat. Suddenly, the carcass plummeted to the ground – it had been dropped and was up for grabs! Fudge seized his chance and raced down the tree to scoop it up and run off. Fudge approached Apollo, screaming and carrying the carcass, but Apollo did nothing, and then Fudge scurried off into the machaka, where I could hear lots of commotion. When he emerged, Fudge no longer had the carcass, and his mother Fanni did. I guess she felt that raising him entitled her to the carcass!

Contributor: Emily Wroblewski    Permalink