Territorial Patrols

A major goal of the Figan Follow was to track the alpha male’s travel to territorial boundaries where he might encounter chimps from neighboring communities — Kahama to the south and Mitumba to the north.

Figan’s core area spanned three valleys: Kakombe, Kasakela, and occasionally Linda (see map, below). Small groups of Kasakela chimps including Figan made three incursions to the north (Days 1, 32, and 49), and even crossed the Rutanga stream on Day 32. They also made three incursions to the south (Days 38, 42, and 45) including one foray deep into Kahama territory where they heard squeaks from a nearby chimp. Their search for this chimp was unsuccessful (photos below).

During these incursions, the group sometimes exhibited “patrolling behaviors,” in which they move silently in a tight formation and pause often to listen and look for signs of rivals, such as fresh feces or nests. These incursions typically ended with wild sessions of pant-hooting and displaying when returning to relative safety, a behavior pattern described as “tension release.”

Incursion into Kahama on Day 38

It was always fun to see chimps on the beach.

The day began peacefully as Faben led travel along the beach from Kakombe to Mkenke (photo, above). The group consisted of adult males Figan, Faben, Satan, Jomeo, and Sherry, adolescent male Goblin, and adult females Gigi and Fifi (and her young son Freud).

The group sits on the Mkenke “watu” path. It was unusual to see chimps sitting in such a compact group except, on occasion, when engaged in social activities like grooming.

The group traveled up the “watu” (people) path separating Mkenke from Kahama valleys. The local people used this path occasionally to walk between the fishing huts on the lake and their villages on the other side of the Rift. Upon reaching a good vantage point, the chimps sat on the path in a compact group, quietly looking out northward over lower Mkenke Valley — watching and listening (photo, above).

Faben (left), Jomeo (center), and Gigi (right) look down into the Busambo ravine. Young Freud¹ (lower left) also watches.

After 15 minutes, the group traveled farther up the path to the ridge separating Mkenke and Kahama. There they climbed into a small, exposed tree on the hillside looking down into Busambo, a small ravine to the south. They sat quietly, constantly listening and watching (photo, above). After forty minutes, Sherry and Jomeo led the group on a steathful advance to the next ravine — Bare-tree Korongo² — where they took a position in a semi-exposed tree.

In single file are Sherry, Figan, Satan, and Gigi. To the left is Jomeo inspecting a tree trunk; to the right (partially hidden) are Faben and Goblin. Petro Leo observes from the upper left.

Soon thereafter, a Kahama chimp squeaked from less than 200 yards away, possibly upon seeing this group of marauders. The vocalization caused a flurry of excitement, as the Kasakela chimps silently hugged one another, grinned, and put their hair out. They then stalked in that direction (photo, above), looking into the trees and stopping often to sniff the ground and branches. Their search turned up empty. The chimp who had made the squeaks had dodged a bullet. Upon returning to the relative safety of Mkenke, Figan and his gang erupted into wild celebratory displays of hooting, drumming, and branch-shaking .

Incursion into Rutanga on Day 32

Faben rests in an mnazi tree overlooking Rutanga valley.

A group consisting of Figan, Faben, Satan, Goblin, Patti, and Fifi (plus young Freud) traveled to the ridge separating Linda and Rutanga valleys. Their pant-hoots upon arrival met with no reply, suggesting that Mitumba chimps were not in the vicinity.

Fifi rests near Faben.

After 40 minutes of resting, Satan led the group down to the Rutanga stream. Figan drank from the stream and ate leaves for a while before Satan led travel back to the area where they had been resting.

Goblin joins the slumber party.

Patti started screaming from down by the stream, possibly having lost contact with the group. Figan and the others responded with pant-hoots from back up near the mnazi trees.³

Although the group had exhibited caution while entering Rutanga, this was not a bona fide patrol like what happened on Day 38.

This map shows Figan’s location “on-the-hour” (orange dots, n=563) during daylight hours (not in a nest) over the fifty days.

Freud, age 3, was often dangling from branches in the trees and tumbling noisily along the ground during travel, seemingly unaware of the seriousness and danger of the patrol.
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“Korongo” is the Swahili word for ravine or gully.
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Thirty-one years later, Mitumba chimps attacked and killed Patti.
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