Dwarf chimpanzee cradles baby mongoose for over an hour and safely releases it, but researchers suspect it may have killed the mother mongoose.
Baby mongoose in the arms of a dwarf chimpanzee. (Photo: Christian Ziegler).
Photographer Christian Ziegler captured the moment a dwarf chimpanzee cradled a baby mongoose in the LuiKotale area near Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. Ziegler submitted the photo to the 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition organized by the Natural History Museum (NHM), which garnered significant attention, IFL Science reported on September 1.
Ziegler observed the scene while tracking a group of dwarf chimpanzees. According to him, the dwarf chimpanzee in the photo held and comforted the baby mongoose for over an hour. However, NHM suggests that the situation may be darker. Dwarf chimpanzees are omnivorous. They primarily eat fruits but occasionally hunt. The baby mongoose was safely released, but the dwarf chimpanzee may have captured it after killing its mother.
The diet of dwarf chimpanzees is quite varied and includes meat. A 2019 study concluded that a group of dwarf chimpanzees in the Lomako forest consumed and shared meat at rates comparable to those of common chimpanzees. Their preferred meat source is the Weyn’s duiker. However, this does not mean that dwarf chimpanzees are unwilling to prey on smaller animals like mongooses.
In addition to dwarf chimpanzees, researchers have also documented other primate species, such as the western lowland gorilla, caring for a baby lemur in the Mefou Primate Sanctuary in Cameroon. The lemur accidentally wandered into the enclosure but was fortunate to be cared for by a gorilla named Bobo, who treated it as a pet and placed it in a tree.
