On the Gombe Chimpanzee War

On the Gombe Chimpanzee War: In the mid-1970s, an outbreak of war-like violence between two distinct communities (or groups) of chimpanzees occurred in the Gombe Stream National Park (GSNP). Located in Western Tanzania, along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, the GSNP covers only 20 square miles. Despite being the smallest national park in Tanzania, it's perhaps the most famous because of Jane Goodall's research efforts there. In total, she spent over 30 years conducting observations of chimp behavior in the GSNP. When Goodall's memoir emerged in 1990, it depicted the Gombe Chimpanzee War from a firsthand perspective. Critics of Goodall pounced on her insistence that the Gombe chimps actually had a "war." In fact, many of these critics believed she was anthropomorphizing the chimps to an extreme degree. How could chimpanzees have a human-like war? Did they use guns, planes, and tanks? No, but they did have sticks, fists, and rocks. Plus, many chimps were even known to use rape as a weapon of intimidation.