Introduction

It should be clear by now that there is no such creature as ‘The Chimpanzee’. Earlier chapters have shown enough variance in the data to make any attempt to generalise about the whole species a nonsense. However, until now the comparisons advanced have been selective or superficial. The aim of this and the following chapter is to compare systematically the object manipulation of as many populations of wild chimpanzees as possible, to see if real differences exist between them and, if so, why. If differences emerge, explanations will be sought in terms of the environmental and social contrasts which characterise those populations. Prized natural foods that require processing will be emphasised: meat, termites, ants, honey, nuts.

Of constant interest is the matter of culture, that is, whether or not one must invoke some kind of social learning of traditions or customs in explanation (McGrew & Tutin, 1978; Nishida, 1987). In other words, do chimpanzees passively and individually react to environmental forces, or do they actively seek and acquire essential knowledge from one another? To answer this compound question we must try to do ethnography on a non-human species, with a view to applying this in ethnological analyses (see Chapter 8).

Difficulties of comparison: eating meat

As discussed in Chapter 2, methodical comparisons across populations are most reliable when based on long-term studies, that is, those of at least a year's duration. For example, seasonal variation is crucial when considering insects as prey (see below), since many species are only available for limited periods (Janzen & Schoener, 1968).