I was just watching National Geographic on Astro. I am disturbed. Nothing quite prepares you when you watch footage of chimps in the wild hunting, killing and eating other smaller monkeys. Nothing quite prepares you for the thought of a chimp devouring a human baby.
It all looks chaotic, monkeys jumping and screaming everywhere. Monkeys running for their lives. The males trying to defend their fellow monkeys against the much larger chimps. I was reminded about HG Well's Time Machine. The peaceful village humans being hunted for food (those monsters were called what again? Mormons?)
As the dust settles, the narrator of the show, describes the chaos that just happened. In the thick of it all, was merciless and methodical strategy. The chimps go for the babies and/or younger monkeys. The adults are almost totally ignored. Any male monkey that tries to defend its group is simply swatted out of the way. I also read in another article how some chimps kill other monkeys and exchange it with females for SEX? wtf?
Sounds surreal, like something that happens in wild sci-fi tales (especially the part about food for SEX).
As they show goes on, it recounts certain incidents in Uganda, that happened around 1995. Chimps were reported to be terrorizing a local village. I think some babies were stolen and eaten as well (FACT: chimps eat their prey by first consuming the hands, then legs, then stomachs and everything else) . There was reports of the dogs, goats and other livestock being chased and eaten.
After some careful detective work, the culprit was discovered to be a lone chimp. Just one.
There was an interview with a young boy, and his sister (who nearly died at the hands of this killer chimp). He recalls how his mother was at home, bedridden because she was ill, and his sister, then a baby, was in the crib. He saw the chimp reach in, and run off with his baby sister. He cried for help, and villagers came with sticks and spears and chased the killer away.
That baby girl who nearly died was about 3 or 4 years old in the interview. She had a big scar on her head, where hair wont grow. The scar of a chimps bite. And her right arm below her elbow is gone.
The scientist wondered why a chimp would attack humans. Perhaps it was injured in some way, unable to fend for itself as a normal chimp would, and resorted to desperate measures.
The monkey was subsequently killed, and after being proudly displayed by the villagers, the crucified chimp was brought down and sent for examination.
The chimp was a normal, perfectly healthy, young adult chimp. No disease, no injuries.
So, did the chimp simply find an alternative source of food? With rampant deforestation happening everywhere, this is simply another case of an animal trying to survive. It was simply trying to survive. It discovered an alternative source of food, an easy source of food. Too bad it didnt realise that it was not supposed to eat the masters of the planet.
You can read about this killer chimp they named 'Saddam' here.
The next part of the show was going to be more interesting as well, about how these chimps are savaging each other. But it started to rain. Blady astro. They should refund us some money everytime it rains.
But as i was sitting there on the couch, i thought, why is it that it feels so sick, to watch a chimp, kill another chimp. Why does it feel wrong, that they shouldnt be killing each other?
And why don't i feel anything as strong as that, when i watch the news, of people killing people? Have i grown so numb to it, so accustomed to it, so closed to the emotion and feeling that this simply is not right?
Does anyone else feel this way?
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