The Gombe Stream National Park is a beautiful park in Tanzania, filled with nature, steep
valleys and multiple forest vegetation types. The terrain is only accessible by boat and
because of its difficult-to-reach location, the wildlife is unique and beautifully diverse.
Lake Tanganyika is located on the western side, and visitors can take a swim there among
the dozens of different types of tropical fish. Now, as for mainland wildlife, there
is a specific type of animal we’ll be talking about today: the Chimpanzee population. Because
it was in the 1970s that the famous primatologist Jane Goodall observed a unified community
of chimpanzees. During the observation, Goodall saw the group not just disintegrate into rival
factions, but fall into civil war with brutal killings and territorial conquests on both
sides. The Gombe Chimpanzee War was well-documented from start to finish, and it provides a look
into the brutal war between rivalling chimpanzee factions.
-intro-
Prelude to War
During the 1960s Jane Goodall was sent to Gombe national park to observe chimpanzees.
Up until that point they had been regarded as funny, friendly-looking and peaceful animals.
They were inherently cheerful, energetic and non-violent. Yet over the years, Goodall would
discover that chimps are a bit more complicated - they even have the ability to form complex
‘political’ alliances and fight over territory. As a matter of fact, it quickly became apparent
chimpanzees formed hunting parties to hunt smaller types of monkeys, tearing off limbs
from their victims and sharing it with the group.
During her research in the Gombe national park Jane Goodall observed a group of chimpanzees
living there. Because of the way slopes and valleys divided the park, chimp communities
that roamed there consisted of up to forty members. The conflict we’ll be looking at
exploded in 1974 and was between members of the Kasakala and the newly formed Kahama tribe.
But to understand the conflict we have to go back several years earlier, to late 1970.
Initially, the Kasakela tribe was unified with 15 adult male chimps under the alpha-male
Leakey. When Leakey died in late 1970 conflict between Kasakela chimps roaming the northern
and southern part of the jungle arose. In the wake of Leakey’s death Humphrey, as
a strong and dominant, but not extraordinary chimp, became the alpha male. Two brothers
from the tribe, Charlie and Hugh, contested his status and started bullying and fighting
with him. When the brothers were on their own Humphrey would dominate them, but when
the two of them were together Humphrey often backed down when challenged. Slowly but surely
an apparent schism in the tribe became evident. Overtime other chimps of the tribe picked
sides based on who they had the strongest social ties with.
Humphrey’s chimps, the Kasakela, remained in their territory. The group consisted of
Humphrey, Figan, Satan, Sherry, Evered, Rodolf and Jomeo, together with twelve adult females
and their young. Charlie and Hugh’s group migrated south. This southern tribe became
the Kahama tribe consisting of Godi, De, Goliath and the young Sniff together with three adult
females and their young. For the next three years, the tribes lived next to each other.
The Kahama tribe was a ‘rebel faction’ within the jungle if you will. As time went
on they isolated themselves more from the Kasakela group, hunting and gathering together
and sharing food. A scientist observing the chimps during this time gave an interview
recalling the behaviour when the two groups met: “We would hear these pant-hoot calls
from the south and say to ourselves: the southern males are coming! All the northern ones would
go up trees, and there’d be a lot of screaming and displaying.”
But the real violence started in January 1974. There wasn’t a clear trigger. Six males
of Humphrey’s tribe came together and formed a war party. Godi, a chimp from the Kahama
group, was feeding himself on a tree when he was ambushed by the six Kasakela chimps.
Godi was thrown on the ground and beaten with a huge rock. Although Godi managed to escape
the brutal beatdown, he was never seen again. Goodall and other researchers were present
when this attack occurred and watched in horror and disbelief. In the aftermath, they said
Godi suffered injuries that no chimp would survive. It was the first time the scientists
had seen chimps attack one of their own, and in the aftermath, the victorious party celebrated
the attack. They jumped up and down, screamed and hooted in the jungle and swung from branches
in a surreal and aggressive victory dance.
The War (1974-1978)
For the next four years, Humphrey’s group would periodically penetrate the Kahama’s
territory and attack their victims. After the attack on Godi, they attacked De and then
Hugh, one of the dominant brothers that had initiated the secession from Humphrey’s
tribe. All attacks were carried out while the victims were feeding, which Goodall described
as a cunning way to overpower the victims at their weakest. She noted that while chimpanzees
are social animals they tend to forage alone, separated from the group. And at their weakest,
the Kasakala would ambush them. Both De and Hugh were killed during the attacks.
Goodall noted that the chimp Goliath from the Kahama tribe tended to be friendly with
the Kasakela’s. Nevertheless, he was the fourth victim when a war party caught him
off-guard while feeding. Charlie, the other brother that instigated the splintering of
the Kasakela tribe, was killed soon after. The chimp Willy disappeared, never to be found
again, probably killed in an attack while feeding as well. The last remaining male chimp
was the young Sniff who too fell victim to a war party. Within 4 years all males had
been brutally murdered by the Kasakela’s. The Kasakela’s now turned their attention
to the Kahama females and tried to assimilate them. One resisted and was killed, two went
missing, probably killed, and the rest were kidnapped and reintegrated in the Kasakela
group. The territory the Kahama used to live in was overtaken, and by 1978 there was nothing
that gave a hint that earlier that year the Kahama tribe had lived there.
Goodall’s findings at first were met with severe skepticism by the scientific community.
She was accused of attributing human emotions and behaviour to animals and because she fed
the chimps she was accused of causing the war and influencing the behaviour of the chimps.
In short: she was accused of being biased and tempering with the natural living conditions
of the chimps. It was not until another group of scientists studied 18 different chimpanzee
communities in Africa that they noted similar behaviour and territorial wars. Basically,
this confirmed that chimpanzees actively wage war against each other. The pattern was similar
to what Goodall observed: the social structure breaks down, in our case the death of the
alpha male, then a power struggle ensues. These wars take several years to settle and
can be caused by a shortage of food or water to a shortage of females as well.
Basically, Goodall’s findings confirmed that chimpanzees live in a complex social
structure which is deeply rooted in the primate evolutionary tree. Leakey, the alpha male,
had managed to secure a network of chimps around him that ensured he was the alpha.
When he died Humphrey, next in line, didn’t receive support from all chimps. It proved
that chimps organized themselves among an alpha male but that this male didn’t rule
alone: he required support, a social structure if you will.
The resulting hostility was not restricted to these rival males; it affected the whole
web of social ties the males and females were embedded within.
So what happened to the victorious Kasakela tribe? After they exterminated the Kahama
they took over the territory the tribe inhabited. It didn’t take long though. A larger group
of chimpanzees, the Kalande, invaded the newly acquired territory. After several fights and
skirmishes on the border of their territory the Kasakela realized they were outnumbered
and retreated to their original territory. And, well, that was the war of the Chimpanzees.
A curious account of surprising and unknown animal behaviour that is well documented.
The notes Goodall took during her observation period have been digitized recently, and I
will post the link among the sources in the description if you want to have a look.
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