Scientists were surprised to see chimpanzees eating turtles

In the astonishment of scientists, chimpanzees who only eat wild fruits and leaves together tear the turtle and eat it well. This finding shows that primates are evolving and changing.

The remarkable footage was recorded by German researchers in Loango National Park in Gabon, in West Africa.

Male chimpanzees hold the turtles tightly in their hands, take them a short distance and then smash them into the trunk for hard shells - (Photo: Antonin Mitifiot / SWNS).

The male chimp slams the tortoise into the trunk to crack the shell, then rips the meat and divides it with the others in the herd.

In a report in Nature, the team said they witnessed this tortoise-eating behavior many times during the two years of wild chimpanzee tracking.

From July 2016 to May 2018, they witnessed 10 male chimpanzees with up to 38 times of catching turtles, of which 34 were successful.

Professor Simone Pika, a member of the research team, described the finding as unprecedented: "Most adult male chimpanzees in the flock that we observed carry out turtle hunting. Catch the turtle, smash the shell on a hard surface, then climb the tree to eat meat together ".

Chimp captures turtles, smashes the shell on a hard surface, then climbs the tree to eat meat together.

A chimpanzee even kept the unpooked turtle meat in the hole in the trunk and took it out to eat the next day.

This discovery is a big surprise in the world of scientific world. Researcher Tobias Deschner of Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany added that storing food and taking it out to eat the next day is a sign that animals can plan for the future. This is an act that has been declared "only seen in humans".

Chimpanzees have the ability to use anterior limb to perform difficult behaviors that no other species can perform, for example by crushing stones with hard shells. They also use long sticks to poke down the termites to pull up more termites.

Chimp is known as a plant-eating species. Their main food is sweet fruits and leaves. This is the first time scientists have discovered their extraordinary behavior, reinforcing the theory that primates are evolving and changing.

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