Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Kill And Eat Jane Goodall - 1,271 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

The acts of cannibalism and infanticide are very apparent in the behavior of the chimpanzee. Many African studies show that wild chimpanzees kill and eat infants of their own species (Goodall, 1986: 151). Although there is not a clear answer why chimps engage in this very violent and sometimes gruesome behavior there are many ideas and suggestions. This essay will deal with chimpanzee aggression, cannibalism and infanticide.

This paper will present information on major research studies performed in Africa and analyze how and why this strange behavior occurs in a commonly thought peaceful primate. Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurt hii) are known to kill and eat mammals in various parts of Africa. Monkeys were recorded to be consumed in the Gombe National Park, the Kasakati Basin, and the Budongo Forest. Moreover, there is new evidence that chimpanzees near the Ugalla River of western Tanzania also consume mammals (Rss, 1990: 167).

Cannibalism has also been recorded both in the Budongo Forest, Male Mountains and the Gombe National Park. In Jane Goodall's, May 1979 article in the National Geographic called "Life and Death at Gombe" it reveals the first time that chimpanzees who were always perceived to be playful, gentle monkeys, could suddenly become dangerous killers. "I knew that some of our chimpanzees, so gentle for the most part, could on occasion become savage killers, ruthless cannibals, and that they had their own form of primitive warfare" (Goodall, 1979: 594). To try and explain this ruthless behavior it is necessary to first analyze their social upbringing and unique lifestyle. The Chimpanzee society is clearly a male dominated aggressive social unit. Males are larger than females, they are more openly aggressive, and they fight more often (Holloway, 1974: 261). These fights can look extremely fierce and the victim screams loudly.

But it is rare for a fight between community members to last longer than quarter of a minute, and it is even more unusual for such a fight to result in serious injury (Goodall, 1992: 7). Many fights break out suddenly. Afterwards the loser of the fight, even though clearly fearful of the aggressor, will almost always approach him and adopt a submissive posture (Goodall, 1992: 8). The loser is giving in and admitting that he has lost and only feels relaxed when the aggressor reaches out and gives what is called a "reassurance gesture-he will touch, pat, kiss or embrace the supplication (loser) " (Goodall, 1992: 8). Another example of chimpanzee aggression is the charging display.

Although females sometimes display this behavior, especially high ranking, confident females, it is typically a male performance (Reynolds, 1967: 82). During such a display, the chimp charges flat out across the ground, slapping his hands, and stamping his feet. The chimps hair then begins to bristle and his lips bunch in a ferocious scowl. He may pitch rocks or jump around swinging branches (Series, 1992: 46). Essentially what he is doing is making himself look bigger and more dangerous than he actually is, trying to intimidate his opponents. "We have found, over thirty years of study, that the young males who display the most frequently, the most impressively, and with the most imagination, are the most likely to rise quickly to a high position in the male dominance hierarchy" (Goodall, 1992: 9).

In essence, every young male chimp is on a life long quest to become the top-ranking position of the male hierarchy that is called the "alpha-male. " Many of the male chimpanzees spend a lot of energy and run risks of serious injury in pursuit of higher status. The rewards of the alpha male are claiming rights to the food, female partners, and he also acquires a position exempt from attack by fellow chimps (Goodall, 1979: 616). However, the latter discussion has dealt solely with inter-group aggression, (fighting within groups of the same community); outer-group aggression is grotesquely different. A chimpanzee community has a home range within which its members constantly roam.

Usually the home range consists of roughly five to eight square miles. The adult male chimpanzees usually in groups of three, take turns patrolling the boundaries of their area keeping close together, silent and alert (Goodall, 1992: 14). As they travel they pick up objects sniffing them as if they are trying to find clues to locate strangers. If a patrol meets up with a group from another community, both sides usually engage in threats, and then are likely to retreat back to their home ground (Holloway, 1974: 261).

But if a single individual is encountered, or a mother and a child, then the patrolling males usually chase and, if they can, attack the stranger (Goodall, 1979: 599). "Ten very serious attacks on mothers or old females of neighboring communities have been recorded in Gombe since 1970; twice the infants of the victims were killed; one other infant died from wounds" (Goodall, 1979: 599). In 1972 the chimpanzees of Gombe divided into two groups: the southern group (Kahama) and the northern group (Kasakela). This was the start of what Jane Goodall called the "four year war. " In 1974, a gang of five chimpanzees from the Kasakela community caught a single male of the Kahama group. They hit, kicked, and bit him for twenty minutes and left him bleeding from many serious wounds. A month later after this original occurrence another prime Kahama male was caught by three chimps from Kasakela and severely beaten. A few weeks later he was found, terribly thin and with a deep unhealed gash in his thigh.

There were three more brutal attacks leaving three more Kahama chimpanzees dead before 1977 (Goodall, 1979: 606). By 1978 the northern males had killed all of the southern group and took over both areas. "It seems that we have been observing a phenomenon rarely recorded in field studies-the gradual extermination of one group of animals by another, stronger, group" (Goodall, 1979: 608). There is no clear reason for these brutal attacks to have taken place unless that the dominant northern males before the community split, had access to the southern community and they were just trying to attain their land back. "We know, today, that chimpanzees can be aggressively territorial" (Goodall, 1992: 14). In August of 1975, Gilka a chimpanzee mother was sitting with her infant when suddenly Passion, another mother appeared and chased her. Gilka ran screaming but Passion who was bigger and stronger caught up, attacked, seized, and killed the baby. She then proceeded to eat the flesh of the infant and share the gruesome remains with her adolescent daughter, Pom and her infant son, Prof.

This was the first observed instance of cannibalistic behavior shown by Passion and Pom (Goodall, 1992: 22). About a year after this incident, Gilka gave birth to another infant and this time it was Pom who seized the baby, but Passion and Prof again shared the flesh. There is no explanation why Passion and Pom behaved as they did (Goodall, 1992: 23). Passion was always an asocial female, and had been a very harsh mother to her own first infant, Pom. It was only as Pom grew older that the very close bond developed between mother and daughter, and it was only because the two acted with such perfect co-operation that they were able to overcome some of the other females of their community (Goodall, 1992: 23).

During the years of their rampaging, a total of ten infants died or disappeared and every instance point to Passion and Pom (Goodall, 1979: 616). They would never try to attack a female when there were any males around. Instead they would wait for the mo...


Free research essays on topics related to: goodall, kill and eat, alpha male, jane goodall, national park

Research essay sample on Kill And Eat Jane Goodall

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com