Chimpanzees in Uganda locked in vicious 'civil war', say researchers

There were divided into two sets - known to researchers as Western and Central - but they had existed overall as a cohesive group.Sandel said he first noticed them polarising in June 2015, when the Western Chimpanzees ran away and were chased by the Central group."Chimpanzees are sort of melodramatic," he said, explaining that following arguments there would ordinarily be "screaming and chasing" and then later, they would grooming and co-operating.But following the 2015 dispute, the researchers saw that there was a six-week avoidance period between the two sets, with interactions becoming more infrequent.When they did occur, Sandel said they were "a little more intense, a little more aggressive".Following the emergence of the two distinct groups in 2018, members of the Western group started attacking the Central Chimpanzees. In 24 targeted attacks since the split, at least seven adult males and 17 infants from the Central chimps have been killed, the study found, although the researchers believe the actual number of deaths are higher.The researchers believe many factors such as the group size and subsequent competition of resources, and "male-male competition" for reproducing may be to blame.