The case of Fuduko

The murder is an extraordinary event. Few animals kill relatives - with the exception of humans, of course. Most of these cases are described for chimpanzees, the most studied species of monkeys, but among them the killings rarely occur. As a rule, monkeys die in intergroup clashes, to date, only nine cases are known when the chimpanzees have accepted violent death from brothers in the group.

Researchers have two main hypotheses about the causes of these murders. According to one, this is a consequence of the natural aggressiveness of chimpanzees, contributing to the success in the struggle for the situation in the group, food and females. According to another hypothesis, such behavior is the result of the influence of a person who destroys the habitat of monkeys and creates the conditions in which natural competition reaches an abnormally high level and leads to murder.

So far, scientists have not come to a consensus which of the hypotheses is true, since they have few actual material, and circumstances do not always allow dividing natural and anthropogenic factors. An example is the murder of chimpanzees in Fundoli, which has recently made a lot of noise in the media.

Fundoli is a small area of ​​wooded savannah in the southeast of Senegal. Anthropogenic territories (agricultural lands, gold mines and a village) occupy no more than 5% of the area, but still the neighborhood with a person is felt. Since April 2001, American researchers, led by a professor at the University of Iowa, Jill D. Pruetz, have been observing the Pan TroglodyTes Verus chimpanzee group (West African subspecies) inhabiting these places [1]. In group 31–35 monkeys of different ages. Four years later, chimpanzees were used to observers so much that they were allowed to be 15–20 meters.

The hero of this story and the victim of the crime, the male named Fudouko, came to the view of researchers in 2003. In 2005, he became Alfa-Samets, having lost this status at the end of September 2007. Around the same time, in mid-October, his friend and a half-player, beta-mamado mamadou (mamadou) broke or dislocated his thigh. After that, he disappeared for six weeks, and when he returned, he was very weak and obeyed all adults. However, over time, Mamad got stronger and restored his social status.

The fate of the inverted Fuduko turned out differently. He left the group and lived somewhere in the neighborhood for five years, the researchers saw him once or twice a year, because the male became bulk and did not let the observers. Meanwhile, leaders alternated in the group. The male, who replaced Fuduko, previously held the third position in the ranking, after 15 months he was shifted, he remained in the group, but disappeared in less than a year.

The second leader lasted three years; Having lost power, he was absent for several weeks; Returning, he was admitted to the community where he first occupied a low step, but then rose to the middle of the social staircase. From 2012, until now, the place of Alfa-Samets has been occupied by David, a single-home brother of Beta Samza Mamadu.

In 2012, Fuduko returned, tried to enter the group of adult males, and even began to “knock down the wedges” to the females. The males did not like it. Naturally, they behaved aggressively, drove Fuduko, although David and Mamada accepted him well. Mamadu Fuduko mainly talked. There was even a case when Fuduko approached the group of monkeys, looked at Mamada, he got up, and the males left together. Mamada then did not see a week.

The murder of Fuduko occurred on the night of June 14 to 15, 2013. Researchers heard the loud screams of the monkeys who fled the land south of the place of the night. In the morning, they found a wounded corpse of Fuduko surrounded by adult males, youth and several females. The monkeys were excited, shouted, fidgeted, sniffed a dead body, scratched him, bit and beat him, including stones and sticks, while others even pinched and ate small pieces.

Only David and Mamad did not take part in the common bacchanalia. Mamada even tried to wake Fuduko and raise him. However, their mother Farafa (Farafa) fiercely rushed at the corpse and pulled more from him more. Half an hour earlier, she showed complete indifference and calmly gained termites only forty meters from the murdered.

When the researchers were able to inspect the body, they saw that many injuries were inflicted after death, including a large wound on the throat. Obviously, the attackers held the victim by the hands and legs, the rest at that time beat and trampled. Scientists did not see the deadly wounds, most likely, Fuduko died of internal damage and a large loss of blood from the wound on the right leg. When the chimpanzees finally left, the researchers buried the dead monkey. Subsequently, the remains will exhum and carefully study.

The next morning, almost all males and several females made a march to the place where they left the body. Along the way, they slammed in chorus and reassured each other with touch and hugs. The monkeys did the rest of the path in silence and, having arrived at the place, thoroughly sniffed him and all the surroundings, after which they returned to the parking lot. All morning the monkeys were nervous and shouted, and then the young male, who occupies the third step in the hierarchy, attacked Mamad and the male of the fourth step. Mamada ran from the battlefield with a cry and ... complained to his mother. Farafa, the Queen Mother, called for the help of several adult males and females, and together they calmed Buzoter. The next day, the monkeys switched to another place, two kilometers from the grave of Fuduko.

Analyzing the reasons for the murder, scientists suggested that he could provoke a long absence of a monkey. The Fundoli group is very close -knit, and Fuduko did not communicate with anyone for more than five years and only shortly before his death tried to again integrate into the social life of the males. For chimpanzees, this behavior is very rare. Researchers recall the case that the famous Japanese primatologist Tosisada Nishida gives. For many years, he explored chimpanzees in the Mahali-Mountain National Park on the east coast of Lake Tangagnika [2].

The alpha male of this group, by click, ntologi (Ntologi), after deposition, left the community and lived nearby for nine months, communicating with only one male of his age, just as Fuduko communicated with Mamad. Then the tologists returned to the group and again took the position of the leader. So a long absorbing itself does not necessarily lead to murder. True, a few years later he was still killed. Researchers did not see the murder itself, but believe that the males, weary of his many years of rule, did it.

The population density in the Fundoli community is very low - 0.4 individuals per 1 square. km. Monkeys almost do not contact other groups of, which could strengthen aggression inside the group and provoke an attack on Fuduko, which rival with other males.

Fundoli chimpanzees experience a catastrophic lack of female individuals. In a group for 10-12 adult males, there are 7-8 adult females. Naturally, the competition for them is cruel. The shortage arose in other things because local residents catch them in order to get the cubs for sale. They catch little, but the females can be counted on the fingers, so the damage is tangible.

The females cannot come from the side, since the terrain is limited by the highway, the city of Kedogu and the Gambia River. Therefore, the influence of the anthropogenic factor on the aggression of chimpanzees cannot be excluded. So this case adds data on murders among the chimpanzees, but there is no clarity.

Natalia Reznik

1. Pruetz JD, ONTL KB, Cleaveland E., Lindshield S., Marshack J., Wessling Eg Intragroup Lethalsion in West African Chimpanzees ( Pan Troglodytes Verus ) Killing of A Former Alpha Male at Fongoli, Senegal // Int. J. Primatol. 2017. 38. 31– DOI: 10.1007/S10764-016-9942-9.

2. Nishida T. Chimpanzees of the Lakeshore: Natural History and Culture at Mahale // 2012, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.