Judging by the infant’s size and the last recorded sighting of UP, the team estimated that the albino newborn was about 2- to 2-and-a-half weeks old. At the time of the young chimp’s birth in summer 2018, the chimp community consisted of about 75 individuals.Ī 19-year-old female chimp, which the researchers referred to as “UP,” was known to be pregnant in January 2018, and on July 15 of that same year, she was seen carrying a “white” infant, later confirmed to be a male. ![]() The albino chimp was spotted among a population of eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Uganda’s Budongo Central Forest Reserve. Now, the new study provides a unique glimpse into the brief life of an albino ape in the wild. Because Pinkie was collected from the wild at just a few weeks old, scientists didn’t have the opportunity to observe her interactions with wild chimps. The only albino chimp ever reported was a western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) named Pinkie, who was found as an infant and sheltered in the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone until her unexpected death at age 9. These included a few toque macaques (Macaca sinica), bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) and spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi), and among the great apes, an albino western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) was once captured in the wild as an infant and then kept in captivity until its death in adulthood. Here, they confirmed that the individual had albinism with a total absence of pigmentation in his skin, hair, and eyes.The scientists noted that only a handful of nonhuman primates with albinism have been spotted in the wild in the past. The body was recovered by the researchers who took it back to the lab for an autopsy. The ‘petting’ and ‘pinching’ behaviors have not been observed previously in this context to my knowledge,” added Leroux. “I would say the time spent inspecting the body, the number and diversity of individuals inspecting it and some of the behavior exhibited - ‘petting’ the back, pinching the hair with their lips on the body first then on their own bodies, or the insertion of a digit in the anus - are really rare behavior observed. The researchers also note the body was subjected to some exceptional behavior, such as one chimp sticking their finger into the anus of the carcass. While chimps inspecting a dead body is not unheard of, it’s thought the infant garnered extra attention from the other group members due to its unusual appearance. Unusually, ten members of the group then proceeded to stroke, sniff, and inspect the carcass. At this point, the infant fell silent and stopped moving. Eventually, the chimp was passed to an adult female who started biting the infant’s head repeatedly. At least six other chimps joined him and started biting the fingers, legs, and ears of the screaming infant. The alpha male emerged out of the thicket, holding the albino infant who was missing an arm. Just after 7:30 am, the researchers heard aggressive screams and the cries of an infant. The infant’s death occurred on the morning of July 19. Another adult female calmly and silently watched the albino infant attentively. During this altercation, the one adult male approached UP and extended his hand towards her “apparently to reassure her,” the study reads. Not all the individuals were hostile, though. An altercation then broke out, and an adult male struck UP and the infant, before forcing her up a tree while others whooped and barked below. In one encounter, the researchers saw members of a group near the mother and infant making “hoos and waa barks”, which chimps typically produce when encountering dangerous or strange animals, such as snakes or unfamiliar humans. However, the researchers note that other chimps in the group were already showing signs of antagonism and aggression. Over the following few days, the albino infant and his mother (known as UP) were seen a number of times. "We were really interested in observing the behavior and reactions from other group members towards this individual with a very unusual appearance," Maël Leroux, lead study author from the University of Zurich in Switzerland, told IFLScience. Judging by his size and the timing of his mother’s pregnancy, the research team estimate was between 14 to 19 days old at the first sighting. ![]() The white-furred male infant was first spotted in July 2018 within the Budongo Forest Reserve in northwest Uganda.
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