Book contents
2 - Inconspicuous female superiority
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2015
Summary
In March 1983, two female chimpanzee friends, Malibu and Poupée, were both at the peak of the sexual swellings that mark their sexual interest, and attracted all the males of the North Group. During this period, they led the foraging trips of the whole crowd of eager males. They regularly liked to climb trees just to rest or for no other obvious reason, thus provoking much tension between the males as space to approach the desired ones became limited in the trees. During the whole week when both females were at the height of sexual activity, the conflicts between the two highest-ranking males Brutus and Schubert, the latter already an impressive young challenger of the older males for some time, developed into some highly risky acrobatic charging displays between them, 40 metres high up in the tallest trees from where the females watched the aerial ballet. The older Brutus was clearly at a disadvantage. The wild jumps between the branches were breathtaking and I was impressed that they would risk their lives for some 10 seconds or so of sex. Malibu and Poupée were leading the patiently following males who were busy controlling the movements of the females as well as preventing others from mating with them. It resembled a never-ending cat and mouse play between the males mediated by the females. From time to time, thanks to the dense forest growth with a restricted view to at most 20 metres, one of them would succeed in sneaking away with one of the females and tempt a quickie before being noticed and chased away. At other times, a male managed to approach the females, but then they would scream and immediately the other males would take care of the imprudent. Only Brutus, the alpha, dared and was tolerated a few times to mate with one of them under the watching eyes of the other pretenders.
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- The Real ChimpanzeeSex Strategies in the Forest, pp. 11 - 32Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009