Effects Of Large-Scale Knockouts On Chimpanzee Association Networks

Disappearances of chimpanzees occurred regularly and we were never sure whether they were due to a death, a temporary absence, or a permanent immigration to another group of chimpanzees. This uncertainty about many of our well-known individuals was always very hard to cope with.On 11 November 1992, Gregoire Nohon, the main field assistant of the Tai North Group, was startled by some alarm calls as the chimpanzees came upon the recently deceased body of a large adult female. After some time and with a better view, he saw with horror that Ondine, the dominant female of our group, was dead. We had been following this female for many years, accompanying her when she mysteriously lost her previous baby, and were gradually gaining insight into her personality. Brutus, the long-term alpha male of the group and a close friend of Ondine, seemed sad as he sat quietly looking at her body. A few days earlier, we had been in the forest with Ondine, Brutus and the others, and everything had appeared perfectly normal. Surprisingly, Ondine's body presented neither external signs of violence, nor signs that could explain her sudden death, and her young baby was sitting near her corpse. Although it may be impossible to prove what led to her death, we know that seven other chimpanzees from that same group died in the following weeks. One may ask, how do survivors of such situations cope?