ANIMALS GO BAD
Monkey revenge, otter attack and Welsh squirrel’s reign of terror
CHIMPS VS GORILLAS
In the forests of Central Africa, our closest relatives, chimps and gorillas, appear to have lived in harmony for millennia; now, though, something appears to be going badly wrong. In February 2019, researchers from Osnabrück University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany were observing primates in Gabon’s Loango National Park when they saw more than two dozen chimpanzees carry out an unprovoked attack on a group of five western lowland gorillas that lasted almost an hour and resulted in an infant gorilla being captured and beaten to death by the chimps. While gorillas are much larger than chimps, they are generally placid by nature, and live in small family groups; chimps, while smaller, are much more aggressive, with groups frequently coming to blows over food or territory. They also live in larger groups, often consisting of 20 or more apes, so in a conflict, chimps have the advantage. This attack was the first seen by chimps on gorillas, although they frequently kill and eat monkeys. Normally the two primates co-exist in the forests and when they do interact, it is peaceful, with members of the two species sometimes foraging, and occasionally playing, together, so this conflict could have been seen as a one-off had it not been repeated later in the year. In December 2019, a second round of hostilities took place, pitting 27 chimps against seven gorillas in a battle that lasted 79 minutes and resulted in the death of another gorilla infant. It remains unclear, though, whether the same group of chimps were involved in both attacks. Researchers fear that this behaviour may reflect a new power balance between the species resulting from a decrease in fruit availability in Loango because of climate change and could be the start of a sustained chimp-gorilla war. discovermagazine.com, 7 Dec 2021.
MONKEYS VS DOGS
In the villages of Majalgaon and nearby Lavul in India, a pair of monkeys carried out a reign of terror against the local
Monkeys killed at least 250 dogs in a sustained revenge campaign
dog population. According to reports, this began when a pack of dogs attacked and killed an infant monkey in Majalgaon and the monkeys responded by grabbing dogs, particularly puppies, and dragging them up trees or to the top of buildings and throwing them to their deaths. Residents of the area say that monkeys killed at least 250 dogs in this way in a sustained revenge campaign lasting over a month, leaving hardly any dogs alive in either village. Locals tried to protect the dogs, but the monkeys turned on them as well and are said to have started attacking children, on one occasion dragging an eight-yearold away until people scared them off by hurling stones. Villagers called in the Forestry Department, but the monkeys evaded capture for some time to continue their assaults until they were eventually caught and released in the forest away from the villages. dailymail.co.uk, 17 Dec; Irishexaminer.com, 21 Dec 2021.
OTTERS VS HUMANS
Otters in Singapore seem to be following the example of their Canadian cousins ( FT412:21) and turning on humans. Graham Spencer was walking in Singapore Botanic Gardens at dawn on 30 November when 20 otters started crossing the path in front of him, just as a jogger ran in the other direction. He ran straight through the group, treading on some of the otters. While the runner swiftly passed by, the otters “went crazy” and attacked Spencer, biting his ankles and causing him to fall to the ground, where they went on to bite his legs and buttocks as well as his finger as he put his hand up to shield his face. “I thought I was going to die,” he said. A friend walking with him drove the otters off, but they pursued the pair as they made for a visitor centre to seek help. In all, Spencer received 26 wounds, some of which needed stitches, and he had to be given a tetanus injection and antibiotics. Singapore has a population of around 150 otters, which is rapidly growing, and while they are usually unperturbed by humans, they have caused problems by eating valuable koi carp and learning to climb ladders. BBC News, 10 Dec 2021.
POSSUM VS STUDENT
While unpacking her car in Dunedin, New Zealand, a University of Otago postgrad felt something run up her leg. Thinking it was a cat, she pulled it off, but found it was a young possum. Despite her removing the creature, she said it “kept charging on me”, so she retreated indoors, but every time the possum saw her through the glass doors, it ran at them. After animal control declined to help, she called police, saying: “I’m being held hostage by a possum.” They sent an officer, but as soon as he arrived the possum climbed on him as well. After dazzling the animal with his torch, the officer trapped it in a box and took it to be released into the wild away from human habitation. stuff. co.nz, 15 Nov 2021.
SQUIRREL VS WALES A grey squirrel carried out a twoday reign of terror in the Welsh village of Buckley in December. The squirrel, nicknamed “Stripe” after the malevolent character in the film Gremlins, had befriended local Corrine Reynolds, who had been feeding it in her garden, but then lived up to its name by going on a rampage that left some villagers afraid to leave their homes. Over two days, Stripe bit 18 residents, some of whom posted gory images of the bites and scratches he inflicted on social media. He was also accused of biting dogs and cats and chasing people down country roads. Buckley resident Scott Felton, 34, said: “I was just having a fag by my back door and it jumped on me. I thought it wanted feeding but it bit me before I even had a chance.” Ms Reynolds eventually captured the crazed squirrel in a humane trap and called the RSPCA, who put the animal down. “I still think he had underlying issues like a tumour or growth because to change like that in a matter of days was not normal,” she said. standard.co.uk, 29 Dec 2021.
ANIMALS VS ENGLAND During recent lockdowns, people in England found all kinds of ways of amusing themselves, many of which resulted in injuries that required hospital treatment. A considerable number injured themselves with power or hand tools, and 5,300 were injured on playground equipment, including eight people over 90, but a noticeable trend was injuries resulting from unfortunate encounters with new pets acquired during lockdown. 7,386 people were bitten or struck by a dog, 47 went to hospital with rat bites, 60 people were admitted after contact with a venomous spider and in one case a 90-year-old woman was hospitalised after being bitten by a crocodile or alligator. mylondon.news, 3 Jan 2022.