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Englishعربي
In Uganda's Kibale National Park, the world's largest known wild chimpanzee community at Ngogo has fractured into two rival factions locked in an eight-year "civil war," marked by at least 24 documented killings since 2018, including 17 infants and several adult males.[1][3] Researchers, led by Aaron Sandel, observed the once-cohesive group of nearly 200 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) split around 2015, with social ties fraying and a shared territory turning into a contested border patrolled by males from both sides.[1][3] By 2018, the division was permanent, as reported by the BBC and detailed in a new study published in Science.[1]
The conflict escalated when the smaller Western group launched repeated raids into the larger Central group's territory, defying expectations that bigger numbers would dominate.[1] Scientists recorded attacks that killed at least seven adult Central males and 17 infants, with an additional 14 adolescents and adults disappearing mysteriously between 2021 and 2024, likely victims of unseen violence. According to ScienceAlert, this is the
The exact trigger remains unclear, but researchers hypothesize that the community's exceptional size—over 200 individuals with more than 30 adult males—strained social bonds and relationship maintenance.[1][3] Tensions built from 2015, culminating in 2017 when the Western chimpanzees fled and were chased, leading to a six-week avoidance period unprecedented in prior observations.[1] Earlier territorial expansion in 2009 may have reduced external threats, weakening overall group unity and allowing internal divisions to fester, as noted in discussions on Hacker News.[2] The deaths of key individuals who bridged subgroups and a halt in interbreeding further solidified the split, turning former companions into enemies.[2]
This event echoes Jane Goodall's 1970s observations of a four-year chimp war in Tanzania between splintered factions, reigniting debates on the roots of collective violence.[1] Unlike wars between strangers, Ngogo's "civil war" saw neighbors, groomers, and long-term partners turn lethal, challenging models that rely on ethnic, religious, or ideological divides.[3] Lead author Aaron Sandel told BBC reporters that such infighting troubles observers more than external conflicts, as it overrides deep social bonds without obvious ideological markers.[1]
The findings carry implications beyond primates, urging a reevaluation of human violence models like parochial altruism and imbalance-of-power theories.[1][2] Primitive human tribes fight over resources, women, and feuds rather than abstract beliefs, mirroring chimp motivations and contradicting outdated "noble savage" notions, as debated in online forums referencing primatologist Richard Wrangham.[2] At Ngogo, the Western group's dominance now reshapes the power balance in the rainforest.
Studied continuously for over 30 years, the Ngogo chimpanzees provide rare longitudinal data on this once-in-500-years upheaval, as described by Science Focus.[3] Researchers continue monitoring to track outcomes, potential reunification, or further casualties, while their work informs conservation efforts in Kibale National Park. Affected parties include the chimpanzees themselves, whose population dynamics and survival are altered, and broader scientific understanding of social evolution. What happens next—whether fragile truces form or violence persists—will shape ongoing models of intergroup conflict in both chimps and humans.[1][3]