Evidence of 430,000-year-old human violence found

By Victoria GillScience reporter, BBC News

28 May 2015 

From the sectionScience & Environment

Human remains from a cave in northern Spain show evidence of a lethal attack 430,000 years ago, a study has shown.

Researchers examined one skull from a site called the Pit of Bones, which contains the remains of at least 28 people.

They concluded that two fractures on that skull were likely to have been caused by "multiple blows" and imply "an intention to kill".

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.

As well as providing a clue as to why the bodies were in the cave, scientists say the study provides grisly evidence that violence is an intrinsic part of the earliest human culture.

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Nature of war: Chimps inherently violent; Study disproves theory that 'chimpanzee wars' are sparked by human influence

Date:

September 17, 2014

Source:

Lincoln Park Zoo

Summary:

Of all of the world's species, humans and chimpanzees are some of the only species to coordinate attacks on their own members. Since Jane Goodall introduced lethal inter-community killings, primatologists have debated the concept of warfare in this genus. New research from an international coalition of ape researchers has shed new light on the subject, suggesting that human encroachment and interference is not, as previous researchers have claimed, an influential predictor of chimp-on-chimp aggression.

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Iraq's Rare Animals Threatened by Violence

The lack of environmental awareness in Iraq and the absence of institutions that are concerned with the protection of animals, in addition to the weakness of the law, have led to the death of hundreds of living beings, especially rare ones. The use of weapons and modern hunting techniques is common, and the aggressors treat the environment violently.

Early this year, while Zamel al-Issa, a farmer, was wandering through his field on the Hillah River in the center of Babel province, he spotted a big turtle crawling between the shrubs.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Issa said, as if he were telling a heroic story, “My eyes had never seen such a huge turtle. It crept slowly towards me, but I did not wait long before stabbing it with a metal spear in the back, which I then cracked with the shovel that I use to plough the garden.”

Issa’s behavior was only a spontaneous reaction, since he had never been taught to protect the environment and its rare species in a society where environmental education is rare and institutions that spread this education are almost nonexistent.

Confidently, Issa declared, “Strange animals have no place among us. This is what we have grown accustomed to. We should kill them immediately before we become their victims. They are harmful or possessed.”

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/10/iraq-wildlife-threatened-lack-education.html#ixzz2jJwg1j1K

Violence in Mali Threatening Survival of Endangered Elephants

Dec. 12, 2012 — University of British Columbia and Oxford University researchers have revealed the secrets of survival of an endangered population of African elephants in the unforgiving Sahara desert. The animals have the largest migration among elephants, the study finds, but recent violence in Mali may now be putting them at risk.

A two-year study, to appear in January's edition of Biological Conservation, tracked the elephants' migration with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars. Its findings advance conservation efforts for the animals, which are facing increased armed conflict in Mali between government forces and Touareg rebels.

"In recent years, the Mali elephants have largely managed to maintain their numbers in extreme natural conditions of heat and drought," says lead researcher Jake Wall, a UBC Dept. of Geography PhD candidate, whose study received support fromSave The Elephants, a Kenya-based conservation group. "The uprising occurring in northern Mali puts them at greater risk, as does increasing human settlement in their traditional territory and the growing risk of ivory poaching."

The study focused on the Gourma elephants of Mali's northern region, which are arguably the world's toughest elephants. The desert-adapted species frequently endure sand storms, water shortages, and temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius (122 Farenheit). Hunting, drought and climate changes have reduced their population to an estimated 350 elephants.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121212093231.htm