Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains
The M Group
Pimu - aged 19 (current Alpha Male)
For years an aggressive and hostile chimp, he is the only male in the group who, having reached sexual prime, did not avoid his mother Fatuma when she was in oestrus and used to sexually attack her against her obvious refusal. He used to be the definite rogue of the group. He has displayed and fought his way to the number three spot since Alofu has been Alpha Male. He is very physical with females, and as a result does not gain their support, but rather instills fear. Lately he seems to have quietened down and his character has improved considerably, but still he is known for his impressive and somewhat hostile displays. In June 2006 it became obvious that Pimu had threatened and then overcame Bonobo, the Number 2. In October 2007, according to Professor Nishida, Pimu became the Alpha male of the M community.
Alofu - aged 25 (recently deposed Alpha Male)
Alofu was born within the group to a high ranking female, Wakusi, who is now one of the oldest females in the M group. At the beginning he had a close alliance with the third ranking Dogura, however, once he had taken over as number one, Dogura was no longer seen as his close ally. It appeared that as he had the support of the other males, he no longer required his assistance and perhaps rather saw Dogura’s strength as a threat to his own position. Another possibility is that Dogura’s failing health limited his interest in political games. Within a few months Dogura had died from an undefined wasting disease. Although less aggressive than his predecessor, Alofu became more so after taking over, but he is still relatively gentle and, unlike his predecessor Fanana, generally popular among the chimpanzees. He was in the Alpha Male position for 4.5 years, after taking over from Fanana in 2003. Now he is possibly Number 2 in the group after Pimu's emergence as Alpha Male in October 2007.
Fanana - aged 29 (a previous Alpha Male)
Fanana led by aggression and force when he was the Alpha Male. Strangely, he appears not to have been born within the M-group, but rather suddenly appeared alone at age about 5. This is unusual and it is possible that his mother was part of the group but so wary of humans that she has never been seen. Not until her death, or until Fanana had been weaned, would he be noticed in the group. As Alfa Male he had a strong hold on power, which was no doubt largely thanks to his close alliance with Kalunde. His power and strength were second to none in the group until Alofu grew in confidence and began to flex his muscles. There was a period when Alofu and his mother Wakusi were seen to challenge Fanana when they found him alone and Fanana would quickly submit without Kalunde to back him up. Fanana was finally ousted from his position in November 2003 by Alofu, who was supported by most of the other males. Kalunde was, of course, instrumental in this as ever but the catalyst appeared to be the fact that Fanana had been commandeering Ruby in oestrus for rather too long. The frustrated males had finally reacted by chasing him off so that they could mate with her. In September 2007 Fanana was suddenly again seen with the group of males and successively has been accepted back to the M community. This new position of the deposed alpha possibly was caused by the “shift of power” among the males, with Bonobo losing his Number 2 position to Pimu, who later challenged Alofu on the way to the alpha position among the M chimps. When Pimu started challenging Alofu, Kalunde (previously leading the attacks on deposed alpha) suddenly changed his position and accepted Fanana back to the group. Possibly, as M community “Prime Minister” Kalunde hoped that Fanana coming back might help Alofu to keep his position against the aggressive and quite unpopular Pimu. As we found out in October, this was not to happen.
Kalunde - aged 45 (The King-Maker)
Kalunde is an absolutely amazing chimp, with his sharp intelligence and immoral but very successful political techniques. He can even be compared in this to Machiavelli. He is the oldest male in the group by 14 years, and is the only survivor from the Ntologe regime. It is testament to his political clout that he is still around. Intrinsic in this ability to survive, is the influence that he has on the rest of the group. Although he might be thought too old to be considered as a ranking male these days, he tends to control the group through the others. He was a supportive Number 2 to Ntologe for much of his 15 year reign, but when he saw Ntologe losing his grip he sought out a strong young male (Nsaba) to offer his alliance and with it the Alpha Male status. This he again did with Fanana, whom he in turn betrayed in favour of Alofu. While Fanana was Alpha, it was Kalunde who was his closest ally. It was only when this bond broke that Fanana lost his position. Since then if Fanana joined the party it was usually Kalunde who lead the attacks of other males against him. That situation suddenly changed in September 2007, when Kalunde apparently welcomed Fanana back to the group. During the 4.5 years of Alofu’s reign Kalunde was his closest ally and in turn was allowed preferential mating and feeding rights. He is very popular amongst the females of the group, and the very special friend of the older, infertile female Mkobo.
Bonobo - aged 26
One of the biggest males in the M group, he has a strong grey beard. He fought hard to maintain his Number 4 position under Fanana but gained his position as Beta Male after Dogura’s demise, easily showing dominance over Carter and Masude. He was much calmer and less aggressive whilst he was under Alofu. More recently there have been indications that his position is under threat from the No 4 Primus. In January 2007 Bonobo disappeared for 3 weeks and when we saw him again in February, he lost lots of weight, showed symptoms of abdominal pain and was walking very slowly. Similar male “wasting diseases” have been seen before among Mahale chimps, and have usually ended with death. We saw Bonobo again in April and his condition had improved considerably: he had put on weight and did not show any signs of pain. But it is possible that this temporarily deterioration of Bonobo’s health has made it possible for Pimu to take over the Number 1 spot.
Primus - aged 16 (the Number 3)
He has a distinctive white spot on the front of his lip. He used to spend a lot of time with Masude. He used to be particularly vociferous in his submissive greeting of senior males and has a habit of making very loud, exaggerated lip smacking whilst grooming. Lately, despite his young age, he is trying hard to climb up the hierarchy. In September 2006 in only one day he challenged all the high rank males and Kalunde. To our astonishment he at first succeeded to intimidate them and gained the access to Ruby in season, but later the other males ganged on him and chased him away from the group. Still, it is interesting to see how the situation is going to develop in future. Primus is not easily intimidated and, unlike most of other males, does not seem to be afraid of Pimu.
Darwin – aged 19
Darwin lost his mother when he was very young – around three or four - and was looked after by the M group. In particular he was protected by the famous, long standing Alpha Male Ntologe who held power for more than 15 years. It was perhaps this lack of maternal nurturing at a young age that has seen him develop a lot slower than he should have, but in 2006 Darwin cought up and in a few months grew to be the fair size, strong male. Being very intelligent and calm for some Darwin is the candidate for the future Alpha! For years if you looked at him next to Pimu, the closest male to his age in the group, there was no comparison. Darwin’s size is closer to Primus, Prion and Cadmus,who although 3 years younger than him, all appear to be ranked higher than him. He is, however, perhaps one of the most entertaining of the group. He is very confident amongst people. Being a bit of a loner, he often finds himself with humans for company rather than chimps. He has been known to playfully grab the stick of a passer-by or even on occasions a leg.
Orion – aged 16
He is now a big, handsome individual. Recently he has been frequently displaying vigorously in order to raise his profile and it seems to be working as he is often at the centre of the action- taking part in hunts and sometimes getting some of the meat. He seems to worship Bonobo, and is often seen in his company, but also spends lots of time away from the group. At the moment he is the most solitary among the young males of M community and definitely became more so since the death of his mother Opal in June 2006. After the death of his mother Opal, Orion became quite anti-social and solitary, but recently has been again often seen among the group. Another male that like to play-charge people and often comes a bit close to researchers and tourists in the forest.
Cadmus – aged 16
Undoubtedly the feistiest of his age group, Cadmus already outranks Darwin who is 4 years his senior. He certainly has a way with the ladies having been seen aged 9 successfully preparing love nests for the females. Smaller in physique than Primus and Orion, he more than makes up for this in confidence, often pushing the patience of the females who have been seen to turn on him. During the last year Cadmus advanced in hierarchy and started challenging the adult males. He tries to receive help from his older brother often, but Carter does not like the conflicts and quite often refuses to stand at his brother’s side.
Carter – aged 22
The elder of the two surviving sons of Calliope, the group’s oldest female, he best enjoys his own company. He is often seen alone or with his younger brother, Cadmus, who only recently reached the adulthood. He seems content with a lower rung on the ladder, but as Cadmus tries hard to improve his status in the hierarchy, he is often driven into the fight on his brother’s side. He seems happy to back up Cadmus some, but as he generally does not like conflicts, if situation becomes serious, he usually quietly leaves the scene.
Christmas & Michio – aged 12 and 11
Close in age, both of these young males have the middle-aged mothers within the group, and each has since had a younger sister – Xantip and Matsuya respectively. Michio, however, always seemed to be much more attached to his mother, never straying far from her sight even though he seems very confident. As they approach the sub-adult stage, young males start to work their way up in the hierarchy, but the way it happens depends strongly on the individual character. Michio recently became a real nuisance for the other juveniles and females, provoking them and then trying to intimidate when they response aggressively to his attempts. You can always tell which part of the group Michio is at the moment, as it will always be the loud one! Michio also worships Alofu and often follows him around, but what a difference in his behaviour when Alofu is around! Michio suddenly becomes very attentive and quiet, as if he does not. Alofu gives him – a gentle, as his ways are – warning.
FEMALES
Opal (died aged 35), Oscar (died aged 8), and the baby.
With her extended family within the group, Opal was surely the most fascinating of the chimps – certainly the females. She was easy to spot with her balding head. She was almost always seen in her family unit, which includes Oscar her son, her grown daughter, Ruby, who unusually has remained in the group, her daughter Rubicon and her infant. Even the sexually mature Orion, her eldest son, was often seen together with these, making a group of seven when she has a baby. Sadly she lost two babies in the past four years. In September 2003 a virus took the life of her baby daughter whom she then carried around her neck for five weeks until the corpse, then little more than a ragged scarf, finally fell apart. Only then did she come on heat and was ready to accept males. She was a highly attractive female thanks to her success as a mother, so when she finally came on heat there was great competition between the males. She sadly lost another infant daughter early in 2005. There may be something in the theory that a high ranking female offers a lot more care to a male progeny for various reasons. After that Opal had another baby girl, which was developing well till June 2006, when Opal, as well as her two youngest children – Oscar and another baby, became victims of the pneumonia outbreak and died.
Ruby – aged 21, Rubicon (aged 9) and Reah (died aged 3) and the baby.
Ruby, daughter of Opal, was in an strange situation, as it is unusual in a free environment, such as Mahale, for a female to remain in her natal group when she could easily pass into a neighboring territory. She is of a generally nervous disposition and perhaps felt that after the trauma of her early parenthood she was better off staying put. It appears that she did leave the group for a while but came back. Within a few weeks of her daughter Rubicon being born (within the M Group) she was attacked by Fanana who was then Alpha Male. He grabbed Rubicon and took her high into a tree and would have surely killed her had it not been for the intervention of Opal (her grandmother) and some of her other allies. In the process Rubicon lost all but two fingers on her right hand and all of the toes bar the big one on her left foot. At the age of 9 she manages well with her disability and has often been seen fishing for ants with her deformed right hand. It is somewhat strange that Ruby gave birth to her second born Reah in the presence of the (now deposed) Alpha Male. This time, Fanana travelled with the small sub-unit which also included Opal and Oscar for a couple of days. During the last pneumonia outbreak all three females became so sick that we feared we would lose them all. Fortunately Ruby and Rubicon recovered and have regained their full strength again. Early in June 2007 Ruby gave birth to a new baby.
Fatuma - aged 44, Flavia – aged 8 and infant (2 years).
With a very distinctive grey beard, Fatuma, the old female, is the most relaxed of her older generation around humans. It is her son, Pimu, who is now the Alpha Male. She too tries to avoid him and his aggressive streak just like all the others. Fatuma seems to live between two communities – the habituated M and the wild Northern K. She often disappears for months and usually is seen in the Northern part of territory. It is the very interesting but not so rare that mature females, instead of choosing one community to live in, share their time between two (possible even more?) neighboring groups. Flavia has an idiosyncratic look, her face appearing grumpy and much older than her small physical size suggests. She reacted very badly to being weaned, throwing tantrums for days as her mother refused her milk. She did not initially show much interest in her younger brother, but is starting to now he is more mobile.
Mkombo – aged 37
The second barren female in the group, Mkombo has a very distinctive look. She has a very dark face and she has pointy, Dr Spock-esque ears. She too has not borne a baby since she had a stillbirth early in life. The love of her life is Kalunde from whom, whenever possible, she is inseparable. Unlike another spinster, Gwekulo, Mkombo does not show the big interest in the other females’ babies and spends more time alone of in the company of males.
Calliope and Carmen – aged 47 and 10.
The oldest of the 5 remaining M Group chimps was already born when the research first began in 1964. Her two sons, Carter and Cadmus, have had a great head start to life in M Group being born to this well respected and successful female - though of course the whole family dynamic creates this reciprocal situation where they all bring strength to each other. Her daughter Carmen will almost certainly leave the group early since she will have two sexually mature brothers in the group by the time she is ready to mate. At the age of 47, Calliope is still coming on heat, but she is noticeably showing her age and it is unlikely that she would conceive again.
Wakusi and Athena – aged 46 and 11.
Being mother to the previous Alpha Male Alofu brought many advantages to Wakusi, but suffice to say that Alofu might not have made it without the support of his mother. She can be very aggressive in confrontation and is probably the highest ranking female in the group and was so even before her son reached the pinnacle. Her torn ears are testament to this. Athena, despite her tender age, already outranks most other females owing to her mother and brother and can often be seen taking advantage of this, throwing tantrums at older females. It might be harder for her to come to terms with leaving the group given her position. Wakusi did have another son in 2002, but he disappeared aged one year and she had some severe cuts on her head which appeared to have been inflicted by another chimp, possibly from another group as she was in the far north of their home range when it happened. Infanticide was suspected but never confirmed. Perhaps a jealous member of M Group…we’ll never know. She had another infant, who died in July 2006 during the pneumonia outbreak.
Gwekulo – aged 45.
The oldest of two spinsters in the M Group, Gwekulo is always on the lookout for a young infant to care for if the mother needs a break. She has never had babies of her own; a fact which is perhaps linked to the wide limping gait which suggests that she broke her leg or pelvis in the past. She was particularly close to Pinky and played a large part in the upbringing of Puffy, her daughter. Since the heavily pregnant Pinky died during the 2006 pneumonia outbreak, Gwekulo permanently takes care of Puffy.
Ikocha - aged 42, Ivana (probably translocated), Iman – aged 10 and Ichiro – aged 5.
Very shy, Ikocha is rarely seen by visitors. She is still around the M community,though sometimes is not seen for months in a row. She is one of the grey chimps of M community – the gene of grey colour is carried in some families and these chimps change colour in early adulthood. Ikocha’s daughter Ivana disappeared at the beginning of 2006, most probably trans-located to another community.
Pinky (died at 34 with her newborn baby) and Puffy – aged 7.
Pinky used to be very close to Gwekulo, who adores Pinky’s daughter, Puffy. One of the more shy females around humans, Pinky was never seen much unless she was on heat and surrounded by the males. Her son, Primus, is coming of age within the group which should help her ranking in the coming years. Pinky was highly pregnant when she disappeared in July 2006. Most probably she, together with the new born baby, became victims of the pneumonia outbreak. Since her mother disappeared Puffy stays permanently with Gwekulo and is developing like a normal juvenile.
Christina and Xantip – 32 and 7 years old
A lower ranking, middle aged immigrant mother. Christina and Miya often used to travel together and so Xantip and Matsuya have become regular play partners. Christina had a new baby in 2005, which died during the 2006 pneumonia outbreak. During 2006 she became the big favourite of Alofu, who grooms her, plays with her and makes her follow him even when she is not in season. It happens that Alofu whilst spending his day with Christina , might suddenly see another passing female in season. He goes to her for a brief mating encounter, after which he comes back straight to sit by Christina again.
Linda and Liz – 27 and 8 years old
Another low ranking young mother, Linda has lost 3 babies in the past few years. The first she lost was from a flu-like illness, dying at around the same time as Opal’s baby. Like Cynthia, she was never seen to carry the dead infant, but was just one day seen without it. Perhaps this shows that she is a less attentive mother, though Liz seems to be very healthy and strong. Linda had a baby in 2005, which again died during the 2006 pneumonia outbreak, but at that time she had been very ill herself, and disappeared for few weeks. She again gave birth in April 2007, and the baby is doing well. You can recognise Linda because the top of her hands are covered with t white, instead of black hair.
Miya - died aged 26, Michio - aged 11, and Matsuya – aged 6.
Miya seemed to have some sort of dysfunction in that occasionally, particularly after heightened activity, she developed a kind of wobble in her head. It was not something that seemed to ever bother her nor affect her abilities as an excellent mother. She disappeared in June 2006, most probably another victim of the pneumonia outbreak. Matsuya was seen following Michio for 4 weeks after their mother died, and then she too disappeared. We still hope that she followed some other chimps; at the end of 6 she should be able to survive without her mother’s help.
Ako - aged 26, and Acadia - aged 9, plus Agana – aged 2.
Ako is quite shy and so maybe her daughter will be seen a lot more than her now that she is no longer her mother’s sole responsibility, as she has had a new baby son recently, Agana. However, there is no doubt that trends of confidence amongst humans are passed on by conditioning so Acadia may continue to be shy like her mother.
Cynthia and Caesar – aged 25 and 9.
Having had a son, Cynthia is more likely to achieve a higher ranking than her counterparts over time. Caesar is a confident juvenile and is often seen travelling with the group even if Cynthia is not there. Naturally for his age he will spend more and more time away from his mother now. She had a new baby in 2005, who died during the 2006 pneumonia outbreak. What was surprising, unlike most of the females in a similar situation, Cynthia did not carry her infant after his death, but abandoned his body on the very same day. Soon after losing her infant Cynthia got pregnant again, but she aborted in January. We have not succeeded in getting the body for PM examination in order to establish the reason of miscarriage. Recently Cynthia’s figure started to round again and it is very likely she will give birth again sometime soon.
Abi – aged 25, Aqua – aged 9, and Azam– aged 3.
Abi and Totsy were both born within the group and have stayed. Consequently, both are very tolerant of people so they are seen close up more often. Almost exactly the same age, their mothers have both died and neither has any siblings in the group. Abi has already had a second infant, a male this time, Azam. Her first born is a female, Aqua, who has a very independent spirit and seems to be following her mother’s example of confidence.
Totsy and Teddy – aged 25, and 6.
Possibly the most relaxed of all of the females, Totsy was also born into the M community. A very clever and relaxed mother, Totsy handles Teddy’s tantrums very patiently, but sticks to her plans and is a no-nonsense mum. Teddy is a boisterous little kid. As the young males usually play harsh, most of the younger infants avoid them or start whimpering as soon as they are hurt. Teddy is tough however, and rarely is seen whimpering, even when treated very abruptly by the much stronger friends.
Sally – aged 21, and Swala – aged 4.
Sally is a very shy, peripheral female, who is rarely seen by visitors. Sally left the group for about a year around the time she was coming of age. She returned and gave birth soon after. There are no reports on whether her infant was fathered outside the group or that there was any hostility to her infant when she returned.
Effie – aged 21, and Emury – aged 7.
Effie entered the group aged eleven and had her first born, a son, when she was fourteen. She is a very handsome female and is usually very popular among the males when she comes in season. She mates regularly and soon should give birth to another child.
Zola - aged 20, and Zuhura – aged 5, and the new baby.
Zola, often seen with Effie, and both of similar age. The two mothers are also close to Cynthia and frequently travel together. All immigrating females, it is possible that they came in from the same foreign group and so already knew each other. On the 11 of July 07 we saw Zola carrying the new-born baby, the 4th baby born since the last outbreak.
Fujit – aged 17, and infant
Fujit joined the M community about 2 years ago and was quite shy around people so used to stay on the periphery of the group when visitors were there. She disappeared mid-2007 and we do not know if she had some bad luck, or simply transferred to another community.
Canato – aged 16 and infant, and Tani – aged 16.
These two immigrant females, despite having never seen humans before, soon learnt from the other chimps to be comfortable in our presence and are now very tolerant. Canato gave birth to her first baby on Christmas Day 2006. Tani, like many sub-adult females, expresses the keen interest on the other females’ babies and is often seen following around adult females. Some of them allow her to play and groom their offspring, others - more possessive - chase her away without mercy!
Jidda – aged 12.
Born into the group, but lost her mother a few years ago. She is very confident around people, and having no siblings within the group may be tempted to stay on when she reaches sexual maturity. When her mother Juno disappeared her sister Julia, who was 2 at the time, also went. It is possible that they emigrated, but most probably died due to the respiratory outbreak.
Isabella, Vera and Ua – aged about 12/13
Isabella transferred to the M community mid-2006 and astonished us with her amazingly relaxed behaviour around people. Unlike most of the newly transferred females, Isabella showed no fear and from the first day she was seen she was sitting comfortably and resting 10 meters from researchers and guests. There is a possibility that Isabella actually had been born in M community and then transferred as adolescent to the neighboring group, as young females often do. Within a few years of her absence she had changed to the extent that no one recognised her when she came back. That would explain her lack of fear from people best, but another possibility is that she is just one of these trusting and calm-natured chimps, which are not commonly found. The most famous of them was David Greybeard , the first wild chimp observed by Jane Goodall in Gombe. Isabella was named for the daughter of Roland Purcell, who started Greystoke camp in Mahale. Vera joined the M community mid-2007. She has a pale, freckled face and is also quite relaxed around people. She is often seen together with Cynthia, with whom she apparently developed a friendship. Ua (flower in Swahili) is the newest member of M community, still peripheral and shy and therefore seen very infrequently.