Barn Burning Essay Research Paper To present

Barn Burning Essay, Research Paper

To present all of the behaviors of chimpanzees in one paper is virtually

impossible. So, I am going to attempt to present only certain major behaviors such as

hunting and gathering to sharing and caring in the following paragraphs.

Hunting and Gathering

There are many interesting subtleties to the chimpanzee that the average

person does not know about. It was first believed that the chimpanzee was a vegetarian.

But, after many years of trivial research, it was clear that meat is and was a natural part

of this animal?s diet. Now, of course comes that part on how the chimpanzee gets that

meat to eat.

Although chimpanzees can and do hunt alone, they often form larger

hunting parties consisting of more than ten adult males, plus females and juveniles.

Chimpanzees also go on ?hunting binges? in which they kill a large number of monkeys

and other animals over a period of several weeks or days. The reason for this is

mysterious, but one mean is maybe to make political bonds and gain access to

sexually-receptive females.

One observation that has been made is the tendency of chimpanzees to

hunt in groups. Since these animals live in a fission-fusion society, where there is very

little cohesion in the group, (beyond the young and their mothers), the size of a hunting

party is related to the success of a hunt. A lone chimpanzee may only capture an animal

thirty percent of the time, whereas a party of ten or more is successful nearly very time.

however, chimpanzees do not join hunting parties expecting to increase their intake of

meat.

Looking at the social aspects of chimpanzee societies to understand their

hunting patterns comes from the observation that males for most of the hunting. Adult

and adolescent males make over ninety percent of the kills. Although females

occasionally do hunt, they often receive more of a share of meat from the male(s) who

captured the prey. The relationship between males and females is dynamic. Sometimes

a begging female does not receive any meat until the male copulates with her, even while

holding the fresh carcass. The size of the hunting party increases in proportion to the

number of estrous females present. With that comes the increased likelihood that a hunt

will occur. This suggests that male chimpanzees use meat again as a tool to gain access

to sexually receptive females. In turn, the females receive the benefits because more

shares of meat means more healthy offspring.

The distribution of the kill to other males also hints at another social role.

The male distributes the meat to his allies, but consistently withholds it from his rivals.

Such behavior reveals that meat can be used as a political tool in chimpanzee society.

Caring and Sharing

Chimpanzees have proven that they are capable of sharing food and favors

with reciprocity, remembering chains of obligation, and demonstrating sympathy.

Chimpanzee society is not merely the product of power-hungry cliques, but consists of

caring, sharing individuals who from self-policing networks.

Chimpanzees social behavior is based on reciprocity. In one of Dr. Frans

de Waal, observations made at the Arnhem zoo in the Netherlands, was of two females

who broke what was admittedly a human-imposed rule that none of the chimpanzees get

fed until all were inside the feeding enclosure. They delayed the colony?s evening meal

by two hours. But, it was the chimpanzees, not the zookeepers who punished them.

Chimpanzee society also has room for more generous feelings.

Combatants usually reconcile themselves with much kissing, hugging, and embracing.

Kissing is especially likely when combatants are trying to preserve important

relationships by reconciling after a fight. Such explicit reconciliation is also seen in

other primates, but chimps go further. Individuals not involved in the conflict may also

come to console the loser.

Another trait that chimps have been said to posses is empathy. They all

display self-awareness, or rather their ability to recognize themselves in mirrors. When

they first encounter their reflections. Chimps act very much as if they were confronting

another chimp. Many exhibit playful outbursts, but soon abandon them. It?s believed the

animals may be apprehending the connection between their actions and those of the

stranger in the mirror, they may understand that they are causing or controlling the

other?s behavior. When they finally grasp the idea between the mirror images and

themselves, they turn their attention to their own bodies, inspecting it as well as preening

it

In conclusion, I hope this paper has given a new insight into some of the

social behaviors, (hunting and gathering and caring and sharing), of the ever-interesting

chimpanzee.