Ultimately, it should come as no surprise that our closest cousins are very similar to humans when it comes to aggression and aggressive behaviour.
Chimpanzees spend much more of their time grooming, socializing, and foraging for food in non-aggressive ways. Of course, many wild chimpanzees live longer, with the oldest wild chimpanzee estimated to be about 63 years old when she passed away. One recent study found that average life expectancy for chimpanzees was 33 years. They believe that aggressive behaviours in chimpanzees likely resulted in benefits that ultimately led to better access to resources and improved the overall evolutionary fitness of the aggressor.Ī key thing to keep in mind is that, just like humans, chimpanzees are not always aggressive, and the aggressive behaviours referenced above represent a small portion of daily chimpanzee behaviours. Wild life Life expectancy in wild chimpanzees tends to be a little lower than in captive chimps. Their findings indicated that aggressive behaviour in chimpanzees was more related to adaptive strategies, therefore suggesting an evolutionary origin. The other hypothesis is that aggressive behaviour in chimpanzees is a result of human interference, with the expansion of human settlements and activities reducing chimpanzee habitat and raising the stress and tension of chimpanzee groups living closer together with fewer available resources.Ī recent study by a group of primatologists assessed long-term data on aggressive behaviour in chimpanzees to examine which of the two hypotheses was best supported. The first is that aggressive behaviour in chimpanzees is a naturally evolved behaviour that resulted in a competitive advantage and better reproductive success. Studying aggression in chimpanzees has therefore been an important topic of discussion among scientists and has resulted in two main opposing hypotheses regarding its origin. Chimpanzees have been found to more often partake in reactive aggression, though proactive aggression does occur in some groups, particularly in cases of intergroup aggression and warfare.Īs our closest living relatives, the similarities and differences between aggression in chimpanzees and humans can have important evolutionary implications about where our aggressive behaviours may have come from.
A key difference between human and chimpanzee aggression is that humans are found to have a greater inclination than other primates for proactive aggression – meaning aggression that is more thought-out or planned. Scientists define two broad categories of aggression as proactive and reactive aggression. Later on she discovered their capacity for aggression and violence.
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