Inside the Uganda chimpanzee civil war episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 10, 2026 · 19 MIN

Inside the Uganda chimpanzee civil war

from The Big Story · host Caryn Ceolin, Dr. John Mitani

It's something scientists have never observed before: chimpanzees, formerly with close family bonds, now engaging in deadly combat. A recent study looked at one of the largest groups of chimps in the world, which primatologists have been observing since 1995. For decades, the group thrived, but recently, factions have broken off, and fighting has turned deadly-- and scientists aren't sure why. Host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with Dr. John Mitani, one of the researchers who's been observing the chimps, and an author of the paper, about what's going on between the primates-- and what we might be able to learn from it. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 10, 2026

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It's something scientists have never observed before: chimpanzees, formerly with close family bonds, now engaging in deadly combat. A recent study looked at one of the largest groups of chimps in the world, which primatologists have been observing since 1995. For decades, the group thrived, but recently, factions have broken off, and fighting has turned deadly-- and scientists aren't sure why. Host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with Dr. John Mitani, one of the researchers who's been observing the chimps, and an author of the paper, about what's going on between the primates-- and what we might be able to learn from it.

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Inside the Uganda chimpanzee civil war

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