This area belongs to us! As is well known, man claims ownership of his home area. In contrast, our big relatives from the African jungle were not previously considered territorial. However, study results now suggest that gorillas also develop a certain sense of ownership for their home area. However, they seem to be relatively tolerant of neighboring groups. The behavior of the gorillas could also shed light on the development of human territorial claims, the researchers say.
From the friendly neighborhood to the brutal war for land ownership: as everyone knows, territorial thinking can take very different forms. How is it with our closest relatives in the animal kingdom? So far, this question has primarily focused on the chimpanzees. Studies have shown that they have a very pronounced and aggressive territorial behavior. It has therefore been associated with the problematic aspects of human land ownership thinking. “Almost all studies of human evolution compare us to chimpanzees, and the extreme territorial violence of these animals is often seen as an indication that human warfare has deep evolutionary roots,” said Jacob Dunn of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
Are we like chimpanzees?
In this context, the behavior of our second closest relative in the animal kingdom was hardly comparable to that of humans: Gorilla groups did not behave territorially, so far it was said – they supposedly do not develop ownership claims for certain areas. This assumption was based on the observation that their home areas often overlap significantly. In contrast to chimpanzee groups, they also behave comparatively peacefully when they meet. To reveal more details about the interaction behavior of gorillas, Dunn and his colleagues have now examined the movement patterns of eight neighboring groups of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of the Congo.
The researchers captured the animals using a network of self-triggering cameras that were installed at 36 points in the 60 square kilometer study area. Based on the characteristics of individual gorillas, the scientists were able to distinguish which group appeared when and where. From the data obtained, they then developed a model of the movements and distribution patterns of the eight gorilla groups.
“Soft” territoriality is emerging
As they report, their data show that each gorilla group has a home area that has a core area, but has soft border areas. The patterns of movement suggest that the groups are aware of each other’s territory: they avoid getting too close to the core of another group. Otherwise, the groups tend to avoid each other on their daily forays into the overlapping areas, is evident in the data. The scientists suspect that a deeper immigration into the area of the neighbors would definitely lead to conflict behavior.
“Our results suggest that gorillas have an understanding of territorial claims and adjust their movements accordingly,” said co-author Robin Morrison of the University of Cambridge. “However, they don’t set hard limits like chimpanzees. Instead, gorilla groups only seem to claim priority or even exclusive use areas near the center of their home territory. At the same time, groups can overlap in other areas of their home area and even coexist peacefully. The flexible system of defense and division of space implies the existence of a complex social structure in these great apes, ”summarizes the scientist.
His colleague Dunn also sees the results as meaningful for looking at human evolution: “Gorillas apparently have core areas of dominance and large zones of mutual tolerance”. According to him, similar principles could also have formed the basis for the different ways of dealing with territories for our ancestors: groups of people can become violent in the defense of a certain area, but in principle they are also willing to cooperate and tolerate other groups.
Source: Anglia Ruskin University, technical article: Scientific Reports, doi: 10.1038 / s41598-020-60504-6