Are Monkeys and Apes as evil as some Humans and do they Murder and Commit Crimes against their own Species?
In this regard, we’d have to confer with some of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees.
Thanks to the work of researchers like Jane Goodall, we know a lot about chimpanzee behavior, both the best and the worst sort. And we do mean the very worst.
Chimps have been known to murder other males while trying to gain dominance in a specific group. Lower-status males will sometimes steal food, sex, and other comforts while the dominant male isn’t looking.
And chimps commit rape. Of course, “rape” is a matter of definition, since normal chimp behavior often looks as if it’s not that far removed from it.
Dominant male chimps, twice as large as the females, often hold the power in sexual matters, regardless of what seem to be the females’ preferences.
Finally, chimps are very human in their capacity for war. They clash with other chimpanzee groups and will brutalize and kill their enemies.
On the other hand, under normal circumstances, chimpanzees have a great capacity for nurturing and being nurtured, with each other and with humans. Chimp mothers often adopt orphaned chimp babies and raise them as their own.
With such a complex range of behavior, chimpanzees are indeed very close cousins to humans. Alas.
