Long-term and violent internal conflict has been recorded in the Ngogo group, one of the largest wild chimpanzee communities living in the Kibale National Park area. According to a study published in the journal Science, this community, previously united, gradually split into two parts taking hostile positions against each other.
Medianews.az reports that researchers have determined that chimpanzees living together between 1995 and 2015 later divided into the "West" and "Center" groups. Since 2018, this division has fully escalated into confrontation. The West group organized 24 coordinated attacks against the rival group over the course of seven years.
As a result of these attacks, at least 7 adult males and 17 infant chimpanzees were killed. Scientists evaluate this event as one of the closest parallels to internal conflicts occurring in human societies.
The study notes that several factors influenced the split. The loss of the group's leader position in 2015 and the emergence of a new leader increased internal tension. At the same time, the death of older individuals maintaining connections within the community weakened social bonds. A disease that occurred in 2017 further weakened the group and accelerated the fragmentation.//BAKU.WS