Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Chimpanzees share forbidden fruit

Hockings, Kimberley J., Humle, Tatyana, Anderson, James R., Biro, Dora, Sousa, Claudia, Ohashi, Gaku, Matsuzawa, Tetsuro (2007) Chimpanzees share forbidden fruit. PLoS ONE, 2 (9). e886. ISSN 1932-6203. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000886) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:38037)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000886

Abstract

The sharing of wild plant foods is infrequent in chimpanzees, but in chimpanzee communities that engage in hunting, meat is frequently used as a 'social tool' for nurturing alliances and social bonds. Here we report the only recorded example of regular sharing of plant foods by unrelated, non-provisioned wild chimpanzees, and the contexts in which these sharing behaviours occur. From direct observations, adult chimpanzees at Bossou (Republic of Guinea, West Africa) very rarely transferred wild plant foods; In contrast, they shared cultivated plant foods much more frequently (58 out of 59 food sharing events). Sharing primarily consists of adult males allowing reproductively cycling females to take food that the possess. We propose that hypotheses focusing on 'food-for-sex and -grooming' and 'showing-off strategies plausibly account for observed sharing behaviours. A changing human-dominated landscape presents chimpanzees with fresh challenges, and our observation suggest that crop-raiding provides, adult male chimpanzees at Bossou with highly desirable food commodities that may be traded for other currencies.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000886
Uncontrolled keywords: animal behavior, animal food, article, chimpanzee, female, male, nonhuman, sexual behavior, social behavior, social interaction, socialization, animal, animal behavior, Pan troglodytes, physiology, social behavior, Pan, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Female, Male, Pan troglodytes, Social Behavior
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH541 Ecology
Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Depositing User: Tatyana Humle
Date Deposited: 04 Apr 2014 09:13 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:14 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/38037 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.