DES MOINES, Iowa – Researchers report witnessing a chimpanzee skewering a tree creature for supper with a spearlike tool, a rare observation of a long-studied primate in the wild.
“It’s not uncommon to have chimps use tools. But to use them in the context of hunting” is nearly unheard of, said Jill Pruetz, an anthropology professor from Iowa State University who led the research team.
The chimp’s actual spearing of a bushbaby, a lemurlike creature that lives in hollow branches or trunks, was only seen once, however. So some primate experts said it was unclear whether the spectacle was a bit of luck or an indication that chimps have a more advanced ability to hunt than was thought.
The observations were made in Fongoli, Senegal, from March 2005 to July 2006. Pruetz’s team documented cases of the chimps using the spears in a study released Thursday in the online version of the journal Current Biology.
Pruetz said the practice is most common among adolescent females, ages 10 to 13, which must compete against physically superior males.
“It’s a way of accessing protein or meat that is a creative solution to this problem,” she said.
Pruetz said the chimpanzees stripped leaves from tree branches and modified the tip with their incisors, “effectively making a point.” Then the chimpanzees jabbed the tool into a cavity to snag a bushbaby.
Chimpanzees commonly use sticks to get food, such as termites, said Ian Gilby, a postdoctoral fellow who studies chimpanzee hunting at Harvard University.
“You frequently see chimps sticking sticks into holes or trees, so they can make the hole bigger so they can put their arm in,” said Gilby, who hadn’t read the study.
Gilby said he’s seen this tactic used to get honey and small birds from holes in his work in Gombe, Tanzania.
“If it’s clear they’re making a point” on a branch tip, he said, then that “does appear to be slightly different from what we see at other sites.”
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