Through a Window (22 page)

This sequence in its entirety was incredibly sophisticated: Flint and Apple each seemed to understand just exactly what the other wanted, and adjusted their behaviour accordingly, even when this meant doing things not normal for either of them.

Sometimes young male baboons get turned on by adolescent female chimps, grasp their ankles, and try to attain intromission. But we have never recorded a sequence that was as sophisticated as that observed between Flint and Apple. The most amusing incident occurred when Miff's daughter Moeza was nine years old. She was barely swollen, and anyway she was in no mood for sex play, as she had temporarily lost her mother and, from time to time, was crying softly to herself. When young Hector of Camp troop approached and mounted her, three times in succession, she simply stood, looking depressed and forlorn, and completely ignored his unsuccessful efforts to mate her.

Chimpanzees, clearly, understand and may respond appropriately to many of the postures, gestures and calls of the baboon communication system—signals given in friendliness and threat, submission and sex. Equally, the baboons understand similar messages conveyed by the chimpanzees. Individuals of each species are alerted by the alarm calls of the other—indeed, they pay attention also to the alarm calls of various kinds of monkeys and even birds. This is commonplace in nature—the news of some danger, such as a prowling leopard, is broadcast by the individual who discovers it and members of other species have learned to recognize the call for what it is. This is highly beneficial to the potential victims of a carnivore and, presumably, most frustrating for the hunter.

One day, as I followed Fifi and her family through the forest, we heard the loud, insistent alarm calls of the Camp troop baboons on the other side of the valley: "waa-hoo! waa-hoo! waa-hoo!" First one baboon shouted out his news, then the message was repeated by more and more of his companions. Shrill juvenile voices and the deeper calls of females joined the gruff chorus of the big males. Fifi paused, with Fiossi perched on her back, Fanni a few steps behind, and stared towards the commotion. After a few moments Fifi decided to investigate. Turning from the trail she had been following she plunged into the tangled undergrowth of the lower slopes. Struggling to keep up I crawled and wriggled behind. Soon we crossed the stream and started up the opposite slope. As we got closer Fifi kept stopping to peer ahead through the vegetation. Suddenly there was a rustle close by. Fifi turned and, with a wide grin—of fear and excitement or both—reached her hand towards the dark shape of another chimpanzee, half-glimpsed in the undergrowth. It was Goblin, hair bristling—and he too grinned as he reached to touch her hand. Reassured by the contact the two moved on. Presently I was aware of other silent forms moving alongside, all heading towards the place where the baboons confronted the unknown danger.

The first baboons came into sight, perched on low branches and staring down at the forest floor. Every so often one started a new series of "waa-hoo! waa-hoo! waa-hoo!" The chimps—and there were about eight by now—climbed into the trees and also peered down through the leaves. What was there? I felt decidedly uncomfortable until I located a tree up which I too could climb should the need arise.

Suddenly Fanni gave a soft "huu"—a sound signifying wonder, puzzlement, just a little fear. Fifi moved closer and started down, following the direction of Fanni's gaze. Then she too gave a "huu" followed, almost at once, by the spine-chilling "wraaa," the chimpanzee alarm call. This acted as a signal to the other chimps and I found myself in the centre of a fearsome chorus.
The males, hair bristling, suddenly began spectacular arboreal displays, leaping from branch to branch, shaking and swaying the vegetation.

As yet I had seen nothing, but all at once, as Satan leapt, with a fierce call, almost to the ground, I saw it too, or part of it: an extremely large python, as big around as a man's thigh. So perfect its camouflage that I would never have seen it had not Satan's display set it moving, slowly, through a patch of sunlight.

For the next twenty minutes the chimps and baboons hung around. No longer scared, they were curious, fascinated. First one, then another, would move down, closer and closer, only to leap back, with startled exclamations, if the python moved. But gradually, as the snake glided into dense undergrowth and disappeared from sight, the spectators lost interest. The baboons left first, and then, in twos and threes, the chimps wandered off as well.

We have no evidence that pythons at Gombe have ever killed young chimps or baboons, but theoretically this would be possible. There are tales of pythons catching, suffocating and swallowing very large animals. By alerting each other to potential danger of this sort the chimps and baboons may well be of service to each other from time to time.

Of all the interactions between chimpanzees and baboons, it is, perhaps, the exuberant play sessions of the youngsters that are the most fascinating to observe. Sometimes an unusually close relationship—a friendship really—develops between a young baboon and a chimp and they will seize every opportunity to play together. The first such friendship I observed was in the early sixties between Gilka and the young female baboon, Goblina. Whenever Gilka's mother was near Goblina's troop the two youngsters would seek each other out and start to play, gently tickling each other with their fingers or with nibbling, nuzzling movements of the jaws. Their play was accompanied by soft laughing. Sometimes one of them would briefly groom the
other. Sadly, Goblina's first baby was killed and eaten by chimpanzee hunters. Gilka had no part in that incident, but I suspect she would have begged eagerly for a share of the meat had she been around at the time. There are many small-holding farmers who have sat together to eat the pig who was, for a while at least, almost part of the family. Gilka would have had less reason to reject the flesh of Goblina's infant.

More recently a similar, though much less gentle, relationship developed between juvenile Freud and the young baboon Hector. Again and again the two would rush towards each other and wildly tumble together, Freud, the smaller, sometimes laughing almost hysterically as the session became increasingly rough. I never saw Gilka and Goblina being aggressive to each other, but the play between Freud and Hector frequently degenerated into aggressive chasing, even fighting. Hector usually came off best, and Freud, screaming, would run to Fifi for comfort. But when they met next time Freud was as eager to play as ever.

For the most part chimp-baboon play comprises chasing and brief episodes of sparring. The chimps, particularly the young males, tend to display many aggressive patterns during these sessions, stamping their feet on the ground, flailing branches, and throwing rocks. Often these play sessions end with the baboons running off screaming. Sometimes the routed baboons approach one of the adult males and then, feeling safe, turn and threaten their too rough playmates. Occasionally adults of both species are drawn into these childhood squabbles and start hurling abuse at each other: the chimps wave their arms, flail branches and utter waa-barks; the baboons roar-grunt, flash their eyelids and display their fearsome canines while lunging towards their opponents. All this, however, is usually but "sound and fury, signifying nothing" and, after a lull, the play often starts up again.

Perhaps the most extraordinary incident I have ever observed between a chimpanzee and a baboon was one involving Pom and
Quisqualis of Camp troop. Pom, from childhood onwards, had typically shown a marked lack of respect for adult male baboons and their powerful canines. On this particular occasion, when she was about ten years old, her behaviour seemed to verge on sheer lunacy! The incident took place in camp, during the days when I occasionally set out a mineral lick that was enjoyed by chimpanzees and baboons alike. Passion and her family had been licking for some time when the baboon Quisqualis arrived and tried, most vigorously, to displace the chimpanzees. Many chimps would abandon their licking in the face of just one serious threat from an adult male baboon. But not Passion and Pom—not even when Quis's threats became really vigorous. He displayed his huge canines more and more often, opening his mouth wider and wider in exaggerated yawns. He flashed the whites of his eyelids. He lunged towards the chimps, stiff-legged. He stood, "champing" his jaws, making audible grinding sounds with his teeth. Above all he tried to catch the eyes of the chimps since, for a baboon, it seems difficult if not impossible to attack without first glaring his hostility directly into his opponent's eyes. To this end Quis circled round, directing his threats first at one chimpanzee and then another. Passion and Pom calmly ignored this—only young Prof, as was to be expected, was scared, repeatedly moving so that one of the females was between himself and the angry baboon.

Suddenly Pom, seemingly tired of licking, lay down. Quis, surely humiliated by her lack of respect, at once bowed right down and exposed his huge canines within inches of her face. But Pom, instead of shrinking from this close-up display of weaponry, reached up and playfully batted the irate baboon on the nose! Startled, he backed away, then yawned again—once more Pom, now with a wide play-face, hit out at him. As he continued to threaten her she sat, then stood, and began to hit at him more vigorously, still indicating, by her facial expression, that it was only a game. But Quis was unable to tolerate this insubordination. With an angry grunting roar he lunged at her and hit her on the head. At this Pom's playful mood broke: her hair bristled aggressively and she picked up a palm frond and flailed wildly at him. And Quis gave up. With all the dignity he could muster he stalked off and left the chimpanzees in control of the salt lick.

Sometimes a young chimp will tease an old male baboon in a most disrespectful way. Never shall I forget when Freud, aged five years, started to pester Heath of Camp troop. Heath was sitting peacefully in the shade, minding his own business, and seven chimpanzees were resting and grooming nearby. Freud climbed into the tree above Heath and began swinging over his head, kicking out at him playfully. For a while Heath showed remarkable patience. When Freud's foot poked into an eye or ear he simply turned his head away. But after ten minutes he had had enough. Leaping up he grabbed Freud, pulled him from the branch, and bit him. Freud began to scream at the top of his voice, although, in fact, Heath's teeth were old and worn and it is unlikely that he was hurting the infant much.

It was twelve-year-old Goblin, who had been lying some twenty-five feet away, who leapt to his feet and charged to Freud's rescue, cuffing Heath over the head. Freud escaped up the tree, Goblin returned to his rest, and Heath sat down again under the same branch. Peace was restored. But not for long. A few minutes later Freud, to my astonishment, began to tease the old baboon exactly as he had before. If anything he was even more irritating. Heath once more showed remarkable patience. But not Goblin. After a moment he got up and walked over towards Freud. With his hair slightly on end, and a furious expression on his face, Goblin reached up, pulled Freud down, and hit him hard. Freud, thoroughly disciplined and brought down to size, didn't even scream, but crept quietly away and went to sit near his mother. The old baboon settled down once again, minding his own business, in the late afternoon sun, while Goblin, still scowling, stalked back to continue his interrupted rest.

I
FIRST SAW GOBLIN
when he was just a few hours old in 1964. I wrote, at the time: "...Melissa, looking down, stared long at the tiny face. Never had we imagined such a funny twisted-up little face. It was comical in its ugliness, with large ears, small, rather pursed lips, and skin incredibly wrinkled and bluish black rather than pink. His eyes were screwed tight shut against the fading light of the sun and he looked like some wizened gnome or hobgoblin."

Seventeen years later Goblin became the undisputed alpha male of his community. It was no easy victory that Goblin won as, for six stormy years, he challenged males older and, for the most part, considerably larger than himself. He risked much to acquire success, against odds that often seemed weighted heavily against him. His story is now an important part of Gombe's recorded history.

In retrospect I can see that, from an early age, Goblin showed many of the qualities that ensure eventual high dominance status in chimpanzee society. He was always determined to get his own way, he hated to be dominated, he was intelligent and courageous, and he could not tolerate disputes among his subordinates. The incident described at the end of the previous chapter, when Goblin first rescued, then disciplined Freud, is a typical example of his desire for social control.

In addition to these personality traits, a key factor in Goblin's early success was his extraordinary relationship with Figan, both before and during his time as alpha male. This had begun when Goblin was but a child. Without doubt it was Figan's presence, Figan's support, that gave Goblin the confidence to start challenging the other males at an unusually early age.

Like all highly motivated adolescent males, Goblin began to challenge the females of his community early and vigorously. In this endeavour Figan played little part, for these swaggering displays are seldom performed in the presence of adult males. Melissa sometimes helped her son on those not infrequent occasions when he fell victim to the retaliatory fury of one of the higher-ranking, tougher females. But she was not always around and Goblin frequently had to stand alone. As his displays became ever more vigorous and his confidence grew, he tackled the more senior females, and many were the times that he was chased off, often by two females who had formed a temporary alliance. Those incidents often ended in fights which, initially, Goblin usually lost. But even if he fled screaming he would be ready to tackle the same females all over again when next he encountered them. He never gave up.

It was during this period of his life that Goblin began to challenge me more and more often. From infancy onward Goblin, like Flint, had shown a tendency to "pester" humans. When he was about four years old we realized that he was going to become a real nuisance. He would approach me, or one of the other students, and seize hold of our wrists. And there he would hang, gripping ever more tightly if we tried to shake him off. Note-taking became increasingly difficult when he was around. Eventually we hit upon the idea of arming ourselves with tins of grease—used engine oil, margarine, anything. When he approached us we quickly smeared our wrists and hands. And, because he hated to get his hands greasy, he soon learned to leave
us alone. But as he moved through adolescence he began to pester humans in a different way—or, rather, he pestered
me!