Abstract
Eighteen predatory and two cannibalistic episodes have been observed among wild chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains. The prey consists mainly of juveniles of medium-sized mammals, six species of which were recorded as prey fauna for the first time in this study. Predatory behavior of Mahale chimpanzees seems more opportunistic and primitive than has ever been observed in the Gombe National Park in terms of capture technique, size of prey, co-operation in hunting, sexual difference in capture frequency, degree of consumption and extent of meat sharing. Cannibalism is an inter-unit-group phenomenon and may be an extension of infanticide, which may function in changing “mother” into “female.”
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This study was financed mainly by the Overseas Scientific Research Fund of the Ministry of Education, Japan and partly by the Japan International Co-operation Agency and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Tanzania.
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Nishida, T., Uehara, S. & Nyundo, R. Predatory behavior among wild chimpanzees of the mahale mountains. Primates 20, 1–20 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02373826
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02373826