Wild chimpanzees eat tortoises after cracking them open against tree trunks

Date:  May 23, 2019

Source:  Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

An international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and the University of Osnabrück, Germany, have observed wild chimpanzees in the Loango National Park, Gabon, eating tortoises. They describe the first observations of this potentially cultural behavior where chimpanzees hit tortoises against tree trunks until the tortoises' shells break open and then feed on the meat.

"We have known for decades that chimpanzees feed on meat from a variety of animal species, but until now the consumption of reptiles has not been observed," says Tobias Deschner, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "What is particularly interesting is that they use a percussive technique that they normally employ to open hard-shelled fruits to gain access to meat of an animal that is almost inaccessible for any other predator."

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