Other infants inspected the body of an infant with albinism. Scroll down to view the original image. Some readers might find it disturbing. Mal LerouxA wild chimpanzee has been discovered with albinism for the first time. The baby ape was born brightly colored and with no pigmentation. It was a rare opportunity to observe how other chimpanzees handled it.Mal Leroux, a Swiss University researcher at the University of Zurich, said that we could document the behavior of chimpanzees toward this individual.The male baby chimp died in his first weeks of life after being born to a community known for infanticide. Adriana Lowe, a former researcher at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, said that if the incident had occurred in another chimp community, it might have been possible to see the individual grow up.AdvertisementLeroux was working with his colleagues to track the Sonso chimpanzee population in Budongo Forest Reserve (Uganda). In 2018, a female dubbed UP became pregnant. She was seen carrying a white baby on 15 July 2018.UP and the baby were approached by several adult chimpanzees. They used alarm calls and waa barks to warn of danger when they encountered dangerous animals, such as snakes. One adult male charged at UP, and hit her. The baby was soon with her, and she disappeared into dense undergrowth.Leroux and a friend discovered a group of chimps hiding in a thicket, making alarmed and angry calls. They heard an infant screaming and a fight. After being attacked by HW, the alpha male of the group, HW, the baby chimp succumbed to his injuries.The researchers autopsied the body after the chimps left it behind. They found a lack in pigment and pink eyeballs, which is a clear indication of albinism. Leroux claims there is no reason for the infant to have been killed due to its appearance. The Sonso community is notoriously prone to infanticide. UPs baby before it was killed also.According to Lowe, a Sonso researcher who studied infanticide in Chimpanzees, infanticides may be primarily a male reproductive strategy. In order to get their mothers back into [menstrual] cycles, males kill infants they don't know in order to have a chance at fathering an infant.Mal LerouxLeroux however, says that the behavior of the other chimps towards the infant, in particular the alarm call, is not normal. He said that they seemed more alert and alerted, although not afraid.Many of the chimps looked at the baby's body after his death in apparent confusion. Many chimps sniffed the baby's anus or even inserted fingers to smell it, which Leroux claims is very rare. He says they thought it was a baby chimp, but there was something wrong.Lowe says that chimpanzees don't generally target people with disabilities or visible differences. Many animals are missing their hands and limbs due to being trapped in traps by locals in order to capture bushmeat. She says that males with disabilities might be held in low-ranking positions and may be beaten, but not more than other low-ranking males.Pinkie was the only known albino chimpanzee. She lived at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Sierra Leone for many years, where she was accepted by the other chimps until her death in 2002.Journal reference: American Journal of Primatology DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23305Wild Wild Life is a monthly newsletter that celebrates the science and diversity of animals, plants, and Earth's other strange and wonderful inhabitants. Sign up today
