[FEL-L] Wild Chimps Use Crossing Guards

[GemOJungle at aol.com]

_http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060911_chimp_road.html_ 
(http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060911_chimp_road.html)  
By _Sara Goudarzi_ (http://www.space.com/php/contactus/feedback.php?r=sg) 
LiveScience Staff  Writer

posted: 11 September 2006
04:31 pm ET
Elementary _school  children_ 
(http://www.livescience.com/othernews/050405_bus_pollution.html)  aren't the only ones who need crossing guards. Scientists 
report  that wild chimpanzees safely cross roads with the aid of adult males 
that serve  as traffic patrollers. 
Dominant male _chimpanzees_ 
(http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050822_chimps_social.html)   walk ahead of their groups and evaluate _risks_ 
(http://www.livescience.com/othernews/051115_truckers.html)  of  crossing a road before 
signaling the rest of the crew to move ahead. Other alpha  males—the leaders 
of the bunch—bring up the rear to protect adult females and  the young 
positioned in the more protected middle areas. [_Photo_ 
(http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=060911_chimp_road_02.jpg&cap=How+
do+chimpanzees+cross+roads?+Dominant+individuals+act+cooperatively+and+flexibl
y+to+maximise+group+protection.+Photo+Credit:+Kimberley+Hockings
) ]  
Researchers studied how a small group of chimps at Bossou, the  Republic of 
Guinea, in West Africa, moved around in a 3,706-acre forest  surrounded by 
_farm_ (http://www.livescience.com/environment/060831_ap_wind_farm.html)   fields. 
 
In order to reach their foraging sites, the chimps had to use  two roads that 
dissect the _forests_ 
(http://www.livescience.com/environment/050316_biofuel.html) :  one nearly 10 feet wide traveled only by pedestrians, the other a 
40-foot-wide  road frequented by cars, motorbikes, trucks, and people on foot.  
At each crossing, the position of the stronger and bolder adult  _males_ 
(http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060201_fat_monkeys.html)   changed 
depending on the degree of risk and the number of other strong males  present in the 
group. This suggests that dominant individuals coordinate with  each other to 
maximize group protection, the researchers write in the Sept.  5issue of the 
journal Current Biology.  
This knowledge helps scientists understand how social  organization emerged 
in hominoids, a family of _primates_ (http://www.livescience.com/monkeys/)  
that _humans_ 
(http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060517_hybrid_ancestors.html)   belong to.  
A video of the chimps crossing the road in front of onlookers is  available 
_here_ (http://www.current-biology.com/cgi/content/full/16/17/R668/DC1/) 
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