Do other animals have wars? | Discover Wildlife

While the vast scale of human conflict may be unparalleled, one could make an argument for simpler warfare among animals.

While the vast scale of human conflict may be unparalleled, one could make an argument for simpler warfare among animals.

Chimpanzee border patrols carry out often-lethal attacks on neighbouring communities. From 1974 to 1978, Jane Goodall documented a ‘war’ between two chimp communities in Tanzania – a sustained violent conflict resulting in the destruction of one side. This seems to fit the definition of warfare.

While Uganda's Ngogo chimps have broken into two permanent groups, resulting in the killing of numerous adults and infants, say researchers.

For the first two decades, the community stuck together. Sometimes, small groups broke away in ‘clusters’ to go foraging or travelling, but the divisions were temporary and amicable. When the groups merged back together, everyone still got along. This is known as fission-fusion, and it’s common in chimp communities.

However, things started to change in 2015, when chimps in the Western and Central clusters began to avoid each other. The bigger population started to split.

But it's not just primates. At a micro level, ants will storm the nests of other colonies and take slaves.

Kidnapped, brainwashed, enslaved: the animal that steals the young and forces them to work

Recent research has highlighted similar behaviour among populations of naked mole rats, too.

Whether or not it can be classed as ‘war’, animals fight over resources – territory, mates, food – not for reasons of religion, ideology or revenge. These unflattering tendencies seem to be unique to us.