Abstract
Like humans, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are well known for their vertebrate and invertebrate hunting, but they rarely scavenge. In contrast, while hunting and meat consumption became increasingly important during the evolution of the genus Homo, scavenging meat and marrow from carcasses of large mammals was also likely to be an important component of their subsistence strategies. Here, we describe a confrontational scavenging interaction between an adult male chimpanzee from the Issa Valley and a crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus), which resulted in the chimpanzee capturing and consuming the carcass of a juvenile bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus). We describe the interaction and contextualize this with previous scavenging observations from chimpanzees.
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23 January 2024
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-024-01118-8
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), and the Tanganyika District government for permission to conduct research at Issa. The UCSD/Salk Center generously provides long-term support for the research at Issa for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA). We express our gratitude to Editor-in-Chief Masayuki Nakamichi for the opportunity to publish and to Drs. Michio Nakamura, David Watts, and Kazuhiko Hosaka for their valuable contributions to this manuscript.
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All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. SAB performed data collection. SAB wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and AKP and FAS commented on and edited subsequent versions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
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Baker, S.A., Stewart, F.A. & Piel, A.K. A case of suspected chimpanzee scavenging in the Issa Valley, Tanzania. Primates 65, 41–48 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-023-01099-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-023-01099-0