By Mwiga Mambo, Tracker - Greystoke Mahale
On Thursday, one of the days usually clients leave and new one comes to Greystoke Mahale camp, we went out in the evening to track and see where the chimps could nest that night. Knowing where they are nesting gives us clue of how chimping would likely to be next morning.
Up on top of a hill where we normally go to listen for their calls, we heard a lot of calls not far from where we were. We knew there was something going on. We rushed to that spot and find chimps ready to hunt red-colobus. There were a lot of screaming, barking and calls of different kind. Red-colobus got confused and started leaping from one branch to other. Alpha male Pimu rushed quickly up on a tree strangled by climbers and got a female red-colobus with her tiny baby clinging by the belly. He killed both mother and the baby.
He then, climbed down off that tree, sat on a ground and started to eat. Other chimps both males and females gathered around begging from him, but he wouldn’t give meat to anyone. He go on scaring or attacking those that got very close to where he was sitting. Poor Nkombo, she humbly approached Pimu and seeing no signs of aggressive from him, she stretched out her hand to take meat. Pimu grabbed her by hand and badly beat her. No one could dare coming closer to him anymore.
But on a tree, sat two brave, intelligent males; Primus and Cadmus watching what was going around. At once they both climbed down from that tree, and walked toward Pimu each one coming toward him from opposite direction. Pimu seeing that, he got up to challenge Cadmus who was a bit closer to where he was than Primus. Reluctantly Cadmus stopped, and Pimu fiercely charged him. When charging Cadmus, Primus get a chance to steal the prey, he took the female red-colobus and start to run away with it. Pimu seeing his prey taken, stopped charging Cadmus and go on charging Primus to have his meat back. Cadmus took that chance and takes away the remaining kill of the tiny baby colobus. Pimu couldn’t catch Primus who went through thick undergrowth. He came back for the tiny baby, which too was taken by Cadmus. Greedy Pimu nothing left with him, and in desperation wandered from one thicket undergrowth to another.
