Wild chimpanzees recorded waging ‘civil war’ with coordinated attacks between two groups
In a new study published this week in the journal Science, Sandel and his colleagues document what may be the first observed “civil war” in wild chimpanzees. While chimpanzees have long been known to wage campaigns of lethal aggression on outsiders, witnessing a once unified group turn on itself is something new – and very human.
“Cases where neighbours are killing neighbours is more troubling and, in a way, it gets closer to the human condition. How do we have this seeming contradiction within us where we are able to cooperate, but then also very quickly turn on one another?” Sandel said.