Chimpanzees prove to be brutal killers

CHIMPANZEES wage war, mercilessly killing members of neighbouring groups to expand their own territory. While zoologists had long suspected that chimp violence could be more than random, a new study provides the first clear evidence of this.

The researchers spent ten years watching two groups of chimpanzees living in Ngogo in Uganda's Kibale National Park. An unusually large group , with about 150 members appeared to have a disproportionate number of males.

"During this time, we observed the Ngogo chimpanzees kill or fatally wound 18 individuals from other groups," the researchers wrote.