john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

animal attacks

  • Chimpanzee watching

    Thu, 2012-05-10 12:36 -- John Hawks

    Captive chimpanzees do clever things, but how deep is their planning? Michael Balter describes a research study following how one chimpanzee harasses zoo visitors: "Stone-throwing chimp plans ahead".

    The next day, Santino again threatened visitors with stones, but the group again backed away to avoid being hit. Santino was then observed pulling a heap of hay from inside his enclosure and placing it on the island close to where the visitors approached. He put several stones under the hay and waited until the group returned about an hour later. Then, without performing a dominance display, Santino pulled a stone from under the hay and threw it. Later, he pulled a stone that he had apparently hidden behind a log and tried to hit the visitors with that, as well.

    This kind of research is a response to Morgan's Canon, the principle that animal behavior should be explained by the lowest-level cognitive process possible. If you want to demonstrate some kind of intentional planning, you have to do very close ethological study of every step in the planning process. The principle is a way of countering anthropomorphism -- animals sometimes do complex-looking things that actually impose very simple cognitive requirements. But it's good to remind ourselves that chimpanzees aren't ants.

    Tags: 
    animal attacks
    chimpanzees
    behavior

  • Chimp gunplay

    Thu, 2011-07-21 11:46 -- John Hawks

    MSNBC reports on the really important issues, such as, "Will chimpanzees rise against us?"

    Any chimp gunplay would most likely be restricted to mimicry. [Primatologist John] Mitani believes actor chimps would likely learn to operate machine guns to please their trainers and receive rewards, but he doesn't think the apes are capable of using them to purposely do harm. "When shooting the gun, I'd be hard-pressed to think that the chimp can really understand (the consequences of) what he's doing."

    Hmmm...we're talking about creatures that will tear off a man's testicles, here. I have a feeling that chimps manning a submachine gun would cackle with chimpish glee.

    Tags: 
    chimpanzees
    animal attacks

  • Monkey escapades

    Mon, 2010-11-29 07:30 -- John Hawks

    The Guardian runs a strange story from its 1925 archives:

    Another capture in monkey hunt

    ...

    According to one report from Rugby, the captured monkey travelled to Rugby by train, and was seen to jump out of the window of a first class carriage. He then walked sedately towards the barrier, and treating the ticket collector with scorn, cleared the barrier with a flying leap. At neither the L.M.S. nor the L.N.E.R. station in Rugby, however, could confirmation be obtained of the arrival of a monkey by train. No member of the railway staff admits having seen him.

    It was a "monkey jazz band" on the lam.

    Tags: 
    animal attacks

  • Vegetable superiority

    Thu, 2010-09-23 16:33 -- John Hawks

    Is there any better example of the importance of throwing for our evolution?

    Woman scares off charging bear – with a courgette

    The woman jumped back and grasped the nearest object on her kitchen counter inside the doorway – a 30cm long courgette. She threw the courgette at the bear from a distance she estimated to be about a metre, The vegetable hit the bear on the top of its head and the animal fled, Maricelli said.

    The woman fought off a bear by throwing a zucchini.

    It started by attacking her dog -- the bear, not the zucchini. I don't necessarily credit the attack as evidence against the value of dog domestication, although it does increase the likelihood that they are not principally formidable hunting weapons and are instead intended as bait.

    Tags: 
    vegetables
    animal attacks

  • Mailbag: Coyote attacks

    Wed, 2010-06-02 14:12 -- John Hawks

    Sorry to interrupt the 'all Anthropoid all the time' theme going on lately but I want to get back to a subject we've discussed before (well kind of).

    Coyotes have a record in recent years of attacking and even killing people. Why do we see so few reports of wolves attacking and killing people? Seemingly it would be much easier for them. The 'yotes that killed the girl in Canada went after a full sized adult.

    Perhaps a pack of wolves would leave less evidence?

    I think first you have to correct for the fact that coyotes are around people a lot more. People who have gone places where they are likely to encounter wolves tend to be better prepared outdoorsmen, able to deal with bears.

    But maybe in addition to that, there's a pack hunting advantage. Coyotes hunt independently or in small groups and are apt to be both hungrier and more limited in range due to conflicts with neighbors. Wolves get their risk spread among more group members and maintain larger home ranges.

    I think leopards are also more dangerous to people than lions, may be the same reason.

    Tags: 
    animal attacks
    dogs
    wolves

  • Chimpanzee smoke rehab

    Sat, 2010-02-27 13:00 -- John Hawks

    Gretchen sends along a pearl of animal news:

    A Russian chimpanzee has been sent to rehab by zookeepers to cure the smoking and beer-drinking habits he has picked up, a popular daily reported on Friday.

    Chimp detox I can understand. I mean, they live in cages, and people bring them cigarettes and beer. It's not like the chimp can walk down to the Quickie Mart and cash in some aluminum cans for smoke money.

    But chimp rehab? Where exactly do you send a chimp for rehab? Are we talking leather couches and nicotine gum?

    It added he has now been transferred to the city of Kazan, about 500 miles east of Moscow, for rehabilitation treatment.

    Hmmm...seems the key element of chimpanzee rehab is taking the chimpanzee away from people who provide endless cigarettes and beer. Which seems like an inherently bad idea.

    UPDATE (2010-02-27): A reader writes:

    Here is a pic of that chimp, Zhora (Russian short name for Georgij/George):
    http://www.evening-kazan.ru/article.asp?from=number&num_dt=14.04.2001&id...
    Turns out, it was his trainer in circus who tought Zhora to drink and smoke. He lights up all on his own and drinks from the glass - the "scene in restaurant" was his main number in circus. The chimp seems to be perfectly adapted to agriculture - his favorite food is milk with fresh bread :-))

    He became aggressive in circus and was transferred to the zoo:
    http://rostov.kp.ru/daily/24445/610851/

    The "rehab" is simply a different zoo, one with more resources, more experienced staff and, it is hoped, a little more civilized visitors.

    Tags: 
    chimpanzees
    animal attacks

  • The premeditated chimp

    Mon, 2009-03-09 23:02 -- John Hawks

    Hmm....

    Staff at the Furuvik Zoo in Sweden first became suspicious in 1997 when they spotted multiple stone piles at the park's "chimpanzee island" where Santino lives, explained Osvath, a Lund University researcher in the field of cognitive science.

    Now having read through this far, I can already predict this is not going to end well. You know, like in Michael Crichton's Congo, with the flat discs of rock...

    A caretaker performed surveillance by hiding herself behind a blind to investigate what was going on.

    Don't DO IT! FOR GOD'S SAKE STAY OUT OF THERE!

    "Stone throwing toward a crowd of people has an instant and dramatic effect," Osvath wrote, "and was a way to evoke reactions across the water moat that enclosed the chimpanzee."

    And you think the chimp is smart enough to establish a missile cache, but not smart enough to cross the moat?

    Santino is the lone male on the island, which he has shared with multiple females over the years. The females "seem to show little interest in the stone caches and concrete disc manufacturing."

    So the chimp has all the females to himself, and he's still MANUFACTURING CONCRETE DISCS TO HURL AT HUMANS.

    Chimps may not even be the only animals that feel compelled to attack humans with rocks from time to time.

    Oh no, it's spreading.

    Move along. Nothing to see here.

    Tags: 
    behavior
    animal attacks
    chimpanzees

  • Just call Animal Control

    Tue, 2009-02-17 10:58 -- John Hawks

    I'm not really qualified to give chimpanzee-related advice, but...

    ...when your friend calls for help because her 200-pound Xanax-drugged chimpanzee has stolen the car keys...

    His owner, Sandra Herold, 70, had called a friend over to help when "Travis" began misbehaving at 241 Rock Rimmon Road. The chimp had taken the keys to the car. He was also trying to open car doors, which he apparently did to indicate he wanted to go for a ride. Herold was able to coax Travis back to the house and she gave him some Xanax-laced tea, police said.

    When the friend, Charla Nash, 55, of Stamford, arrived minutes later, the 200-pound chimp bolted outside and began brutally attacking Nash as she was getting out of her car, leaving her with severe facial injuries. She was in "very critical condition," according to police, and her condition had not improved considerably Tuesday.

    ...call Animal Control.

    Another of our periodic reminders that chimpanzees are not domesticated animals.

    Tags: 
    chimpanzees
    animal attacks

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