Study Reveals Chimpanzees Use High Ground Tactics for Reconnaissance and Conflict Avoidance With Rival Groups

Three-Year Study Tracks Chimpanzees' Usage of Elevated Territories for Avoiding Conflict, Suggesting Complex Cognitive Abilities Similar to Early Human Warfare Strategies

A three-year study in the West African forests of Côte d'Ivoire found that chimpanzees use high terrain strategically to conduct reconnaissance on rival groups and avoid confrontation, behaviours previously thought unique to humans.
Chimpanzees were found to be twice as likely to climb hills when heading towards the borders of contested territories, compared to when travelling within their own territory.
On high ground, the chimps refrained from noisily eating or foraging, instead resting and listening, enabling them to detect the sounds of rival groups and gauge their distance.
The likelihood of chimps advancing into rival territory increased when the rival group's location was further away, suggesting complex cognitive abilities being utilised to weigh the risk of confrontation.
Despite occasional fights, violence was relatively rare thanks to these strategic behaviours, sparking discussions on the similarity of these strategies to early human warfare and the potential impact on human evolution.
The data used in this study was sourced from the Taï Chimpanzee Project, one of the few sites where data is collected simultaneously on multiple communities of wild chimpanzees.