An earlier photo of young Titan, who is struggling to find a place among the dominant adult males. (Photo: JGI)

The big group of chimpanzees convened in Linda valley to
start their day, so that is where I started mine. It was hard to get and
keep a target with the movements of the group. My
frustrations only got worse when the huge group encountered a troop of red
colobus. Chaos erupted around us as the
chimps scaled trees in pursuit of prey and several males caught
monkeys. The typical frenzy of screaming,
chasing, begging, and fighting ensued, making data collection even more
difficult. I was happy to see that
Freud was getting some meat to eat for himself. It's hard to know how well
he's been eating lately and he's becoming thinner.

It was a while before things calmed down enough for me to
finally collect data, but eventually I began observing
Sampson.
Sampson kept off to the side, eating leaves
and insects, keeping a quiet and safe distance from the rest of the frenzied chimps.

Sampson eventually meandered over (I guess the meat
was too tempting to ignore), and he scored some meat for
himself. Within a short time of being close to the males
Sampson was displayed at by Frodo and had Faustino bristle and take a
swipe at him.

As the group went on the move towards Rutanga, Titan faced
similar struggles to Sampson. Apollo
chased him away from his feeding spot, and Frodo bristled and chased him.

Titan's abuse continued as the group continued moving north. Apollo took a swipe at Titan and Titan pant-grunted and bobbed his head in submission. Sheldon displayed at Titan and
chased the screaming, fear-grinning young male up a tree. It must not be easy to be a young male,
trying to find a place amongst the bigger and stronger adult males. Their future reproductive success depends on
establishing a high rank so they get prime mating access. Alpha and high ranking males sire a large proportion of the
offspring born, but they have to challenge and bypass the other males to get
there. Do fathers help their sons in
this process? Do they protect, assist and/or show less aggression towards
their sons as they join the adult male social group? The data I am collecting will help to answer my questions.

Unfortunately I cannot say if Titan's day got any better,
because late in the afternoon the whole group crossed into Mitumba. I had
to say goodbye as the B Record assistants went on.