John Mitani

It took a very long time to write this up.

And as I think back on things, I'm starting to wonder, you know, I'm just too close to it.

And I've taken no joy in publicizing these events.

Oh, of course.

But, you know, I'm not going to blame the chimps because they're not moral animals like you and me, like humans.

As you just said, this is just what chimps do.

So I don't blame them in any way.

It's, again, been difficult to document, observe, watch, and write up, but...

At the end of the day, chimps are chimps and humans are humans.

We're similar in some ways, but we're also fundamentally different.

And I think there are some lessons to be learned there, too.

Well, I think there is actually a hopeful moral to the story here for us, because I think the study highlights a key difference between them and us.

You know, we've known for a very long time that chimpanzees will kill and attack their neighbors.

The surprising finding here is that chimps will do this even when those neighbors are former friends and allies, individuals with whom they share a long history with.

You know, we as humans, we're not this way.

One stark difference that exists between them and us is that we're an unusually pro-social and cooperative species.

Instead of attacking others, we go out of our way to help and aid our neighbors, some of whom can be complete and total strangers.

And this ability to get along with others is unusual if not unique.

So while aggression and wars break out among humans from time to time as they are now, for the most part, we're able to live peaceably side by side with others now in a world of over 8 billion people.

I find that to be utterly remarkable.