Taï Forest, 8 March 1989

Tina, a 10-year-old juvenile female, lost her mother just a few months ago. Tarzan, her 5-year-old brother, actively sought to be and was adopted by Brutus, the dominant male. He is very caring and even regularly shares meat with Tarzan. Tina is more cautious with Brutus and always follows a certain distance behind him. Thus, Brutus is regularly seen being followed in a row by Tarzan, then by Ali, who he adopted some five years earlier, and finally by Tina. At 7:45 this morning, after hearing unusually loud calls nearby, we rush to find Brutus near the motionless body of Tina, whose intestines are visible through a long cut on her belly. We later concluded that a leopard had caused this injury and she apparently died as a result of it biting through her second cervical vertebra. Brutus is quickly joined by several other individuals of both sexes. At first, the males behave aggressively and display nearby and drag Tina’s body over short distances. Ulysse carries Tina’s body 2 m but Brutus moves it back to where it had been, just about 5 m away from where the attack had occurred. Ondine and two other high-ranking females sniff Tina’s wounds and some nearby leaves on the ground. Ulysse inspects and holds one of Tina’s hands. Four more females arrive and very carefully approach the body, which is now guarded by the males and Ondine, the alpha female. One of the females smells the wounds on the body but does not lick them, while her nearby infant is chased away. After an hour, one of the males lies down beside Tina and begins to groom her and Brutus does the same on the other side. A low-ranking female approaches and sniffs the body but Ondine and Brutus chase her away.