Aftermath of a Chimpanzee Murder Caught in Rare Video Jan. 30, 2017 - It was a grisly sight: a murdered chimpanzee, his body beaten, bloodied—and partially cannibalized—by the community he used to lead. Rare video captures the deadly end to a tale of chimpanzee social politics. Researchers had been observing a group of chimpanzees in Senegal since 2005. They identified one chimp, Foudouko, as the alpha leader. Two years later he fell from power, overthrown by a group of younger males. He lived on the outskirts of the group for years before attempting to return in mid-2013. He was killed by his former followers, a rare instance in which a chimp was killed within its own community.
By Michael Greshko

PUBLISHED January 30, 2017

It was a grisly sight: a murdered chimpanzee, his body beaten, bloodied—and partially cannibalized—by members of his former social group.

Researchers who found the gruesome scene in Senegal in 2013 knew that chimpanzees are no strangers to lethal violence. At every chimpanzee site that’s been studied for more than a decade, scientists have observed conflicts that end in death.

But killing within a community is rare.

The incident—described recently in the International Journal of Primatology and whose aftermath was caught on video—is just the ninth recorded case of a chimpanzee community killing one of its own.

“It was incredibly hard to watch,” says study co-author Jill Pruetz, an Iowa State University anthropologist and National Geographic Society grantee. “I was really disturbed for about three days [afterward], as if you had a falling-out with a friend.”