Through a Window

by Jane Goodall

  Evered's patience was quite remarkable. He waited for almost thirty minutes, shaking branches from time to time in an irritated way. But as before he became increasingly frustrated and eventually disciplined her again, this time attacking her more severely. Now at last, when he stopped his pounding and summoned her to approach she responded instantly. Hastening to crouch before him, with nervous panting grunts, she pressed her mouth to his thigh, kissing him. And then, as is the way of male chimpanzees after aggression, Evered reassured her, grooming her until she relaxed under the gentle caress of his fingers. Once punishment has been handed out, then it is time to make amends, to restore social harmony. When, after twenty minutes, Evered again moved on, turned, and shook a branch, Winkle followed obediently, Wilkie, as before, bringing up the rear.

  For some while they travelled thus, without further friction. On the ridge between Kasekela and Linda Valleys, they stopped to feed. An hour later Evered set off again, and in response to his now familiar summons, Winkle followed, but only a few steps at a time and with obvious reluctance. Quite clearly she was loath to leave her favourite haunts for the less familiar terrain to the north. Evered was more impatient now, and it was not long before he attacked her yet again. This was the worst of all: as he seized and pounded on her they tumbled together down a ravine, thudding from one large rock to another below, and then to a third. Winkle broke free and rushed away, screaming. But when Evered summoned her she quickly gathered up her son—who, scared by the conflict, was screaming loudly—and, carrying him on her back, she followed her implacable suitor.

  For the next two hours Evered led the way relentlessly further and further northward. Three more times he attacked Winkle, once when she baulked at crossing Linda Stream, once when she suddenly ran to the south, startled by the sudden shouting of fishermen from the beach nearby, and finally when she made her last attempt to resist him just before they moved down into Rutanga Valley.

  Not until it was nearly dark did the little group settle down for the night. Wilkie shared his mother's nest as usual, and surely the contact with his small, familiar body gave her some comfort after the bruisings and batterings of the long day.

  The next morning things were very different. Winkle, now that she had finally moved into unfamiliar territory, was only too anxious to stay near Evered and, for the most part, followed him readily whenever he moved on. His episodes of branch shaking became ever less frequent and less vigorous. By 10.30 they had already reached Kavusindi, and that night they slept together in Mitumba Valley, near the beach, where Evered almost always takes his females. And there, for the next eight days, they would remain.

  Once they had settled down, safe from discovery by other Kasekela males, Evered became benign and tolerant. If, when he was ready to leave, Winkle was still feeding, resting, or grooming her infant, then he stretched out on the ground and waited patiently. He groomed her often, and during the heat of midday all three often lay close together on the ground. Evered was very tolerant of Wilkie, too, sometimes grooming him for a while and even, on a number of occasions, sharing food when the infant begged. But for the most part Wilkie was sulky and depressed, for he was going through the final stages of weaning. He spent much time sitting in contact with Winkle, and, desperate for reassurance as a result of the drying up of her milk, constantly demanded her attention.

  Winkle was fully pink from the third day of the consortship onwards. She was fertile and, towards the end, at her most sexually attractive and receptive. Yet Evered mated with her but seldom—never more than five times in one day. When he did court her, Winkle responded quickly and calmly. It was all so peaceful, like some idyllic honeymoon.

  It is not only Evered who becomes benign and tolerant once he has led his female to his chosen consort range: it is the rule among the Gombe males. The aggressive bullying ceases once the male has achieved his goal, and he is then prepared to adjust his daily routine to that of his lady. I remember once when Figan took Athena northward to Rutanga Stream. She was extraordinarily reluctant to accompany him and it was a harrowing day for both of them. Eventually, however, by dint of repeated violent displays—and without any fighting—Figan had his way. The following morning Athena clearly wanted a lie-in. Figan rose at the usual time and went to sit below Athena's nest. She peered down at him, gave a soft grunt, a sleepy "Good morning," and stayed right where she was. After ten minutes Figan, gazing up, shook a little clump of vegetation. No response from above. Eight minutes later he tried again, but she continued to lie in bed, paying Figan no attention. Even when he performed a swaggering display she still ignored him. And so, eventually, he moved off without her to attend to his own pressing need for breakfast. The tree into which he climbed, laden with succulent mmanda figs, was not far away, but even from the topmost branches he could not see Athena. After stuffing food into his mouth for a few minutes he hastened down through the branches, ran back a short way, peered anxiously towards her nest and then, assured that she was still there, returned to the fig tree. During the next forty-five minutes he interrupted his meal five more times in or der to ascertain that Athena had not escaped. By the following day Figan had led Athena much further to the north. Then he could relax and the remaining thirteen days of their consortship were peaceful and calm.

  How different is the situation that prevails when a sexually attractive female is surrounded by a whole group of adult males. Then, if she is a popular partner, tension builds up as her suitors vie with one another for the opportunity to mate. Under these conditions the female may copulate with six or more males in ten minutes or so. And whenever there is some excitement in the group, such as reunion with other chimps or arrival at a food source, this typically triggers a renewed outburst of sexual activity. Old Flo, during her heyday, was once mated fifty times in one twelve-hour period. And only too often, with tension running high, fighting breaks out, sometimes for the most trivial of reasons. Even though the female herself is seldom the victim, the situation clearly subjects her to a certain amount of stress.

  It may well be that the calm and friendly atmosphere of the consortship is more conducive to conception. Certainly eight months after Winkle returned from her honeymoon with Evered she gave birth to a daughter—we called her Wunda (it makes a better name spelled that way) since, for the first time in Gombe's history, humans observed the birth. And as eight months is the gestation period in chimpanzees, Wunda, without a shadow of doubt, is Evered's daughter.

  When a female chimpanzee becomes pregnant her condition seems to remain a secret, at least for a while. There is no signal comparable to the sudden change in the colour of the posterior of the pregnant female baboon. There does not seem to be any special odour, or pheromone, to advertise her condition to the males. Moreover, for the first few months of her pregnancy she is likely to develop sexual swellings as usual, and at least the first of these may arouse the interest of the adult males. This leads to some absurd situations when males wear themselves to the bone in order to lead away reluctant females who are already impregnated with the seed of rivals.

  Often a male has to work very hard indeed to take and keep a female on a consortship. If his lady conceives, this effort will have been more than worth it. But, of course, he has no way of knowing. Probably this is why some males go to so much trouble to take their females on two consortships in succession, because this, in a way, safeguards the investment he has already made. If he failed to impregnate the female the first time around, the second honeymoon will give him another chance. And it will prevent her from going off with a rival. Even if she is already carrying his child, it may still be worth his while since he will effectively ensure that she is not subject to the stresses and strains of an excitable sexual gathering, a situation which could have a damaging effect on her—and his—unborn child. Evered sometimes took his females on three successive honeymoons of this sort.

  Each adult male has his own particular style when it comes to consorting. Evered goes in for lengthy consortships�
�many of his were considerably longer than the ten days he spent with Winkle. Once he is thought to have wandered in the north with one of the Kasekela females for almost three months, although we cannot be sure they were together all the time.

  Other males go in for very short consortships. They try to initiate the relationship not during the early stages of swelling but when the female is already fully pink. There are distinct advantages for the male who can carry this off. For one thing the female, being highly sexually receptive, is more likely to cooperate with him. For another, he does not have to maintain the relationship for so long and this is important if he is working to keep up his position in the hierarchy: the longer his absence, the more likely it is that, on his return, he will have to face challenges from one or more of his rivals.

  But the strategy has its drawbacks too. It is not easy to elope with a female who is at the height of her attractiveness. Indeed, if she is sexually popular, it may be impossible since she will be surrounded by a number of adult males watching every move she makes. The would-be consort male must keep close to her and be prepared to seize any opportunity to try to lead her away. Of course, even if he fails, his constant proximity to her will give him maximum opportunity to copulate with her and that might make all the difference to his chances of fathering a child.

  One of the chief proponents of the short-and-sweet consortship was Satan. His technique was interesting. He not only maintained close proximity to the female with whom he wished to make off, but he groomed her frequently as well. And then, having thus demonstrated his kindly nature—"See what a charming partner I shall be"—he waited his chance. If, for any reason, he and the female were temporarily separated from the others Satan quickly shook vegetation, led off in the opposite direction from the group, and hoped she would follow. A couple of times, when the female stayed up late in the evening, feeding ravenously to make up for a scanty intake during her sexually busy day, Satan stayed up too. And then, when her meal was over and the other males were safely in their nests, he tried to lead her a short distance away. If this was successful he would then rise very early the next morning, and, after rousing the lady, suggest to her that they make a hasty get-away.

  Ploys of this sort work only if the female cooperates. If she refuses to follow and the male attacks, her screams are sure to bring one or more of her other suitors racing to the scene. Satan did well in this respect and often succeeded in setting off with quite popular females. But this did him little good since almost always the female, after staying with him for a couple of days, then gave him the slip and reappeared, still fully pink, in the central part of the range. There the other males made haste to copulate with her, making up for lost time. Yet despite the obvious failure of his strategy Satan continued trying.

  Some males, using a technique that is the exact opposite of the short-and-sweet method, set off on consortships with females who are completely "flat"—who show no signs at all of developing a sexual swelling. Sometimes they even consort females who have recently deflated, who may have just returned from an extended consortship with another male. It is one way for a low-ranking male to get a female to himself, for his superiors will not be interested in her at this stage and will not object to his manoeuvre. If he succeeds in taking her off, succeeds in keeping her with him until she does become fertile, he will be in clover. He will know a halcyon few days when he has a female, at the peak of her swelling, all to himself. He can mate her whenever he likes, without fear of interruption by his superiors. Moreover, unless she is already pregnant he will have a good chance, in this peaceful setting, of siring a child, propagating his genes—which, after all, is what sex is all about.

  The main problem for a male trying to lead away a flat female is that during this "cold" phase of her sexual cycle she is usually particularly reluctant to accompany him. We observed the entire course of what may well have been young Freud's very first attempted consortship. He was fifteen years old at the time and his chosen partner was Melissa's daughter Gremlin. She was completely flat. She had only recently returned from a week with Satan. And she most emphatically did not want to go anywhere with Freud.

  When I met them Gremlin was sitting by a tree trunk, and Freud was glaring at her, shaking branches. Only after he had displayed around her several times, violently swaying the vegetation, did she eventually trail after him, heading north. She kept looking back, her lips pouted, and every so often I could hear a soft whimper of distress. Quite clearly she wanted to rejoin her mother, with whom she had been travelling earlier in the day. But whenever she turned and tried to move back the way they had come Freud shook branches at her. If she refused to follow he stood upright, shaking and swaying the vegetation in yet another magnificent display. Gremlin pushed her luck to the limit, ignoring him until it seemed that an attack was inevitable. But then, at the last minute she hastened towards him with panting grunts and gestures of appeasement. This was usually followed by a brief grooming session, after which Freud tried again. He was two years younger than Gremlin but already much stronger, and in a fight she might well have been hurt. And so eventually she gave in.

  However, she soon worked out a way of coping, her own unique form of protest. After travelling a few steps in the required direction she climbed a tree and began to feed. Freud, after looking up and half-heartedly shaking a little tuft of grass, settled down to wait. He waited and waited and waited. He lay down and closed his eyes. He sat up and groomed himself. Finally, after almost an hour had passed, he began to show signs of mounting impatience, scratching himself ever more vigorously while his glances towards Gremlin became more and more frequent. Eventually he performed another series of spectacular displays below her—and even then she just sat without moving, watching him. Only when Freud actually leapt, bristling, into her very tree, did she at last capitulate, climbing down and reaching to touch him appeasingly.

  When he moved off, still heading north, Gremlin followed. But after a few yards, she climbed another tree and again began to feed! Never have I seen a chimpanzee climb so many trees in such a short space of time. Anything as an excuse to delay. And each time Freud waited as before, grooming himself or sprawled out on the ground, until she condescended to follow him again—for another couple of yards. After five hours they had travelled only some five hundred yards! When, about one and a half hours before the usual bedtime, she climbed yet another tree and constructed a leafy nest, Freud, after gazing up, gave an audible sigh, then resignedly made his own nest nearby. They were still well within the central part of the community range when, the next day, they encountered a couple of other Kasekela males. This marked the end of Freud's attempted consortship, and Gremlin was able to rejoin her mother.

  It is quite clear that a female prefers some males to others; equally there are certain individuals whom she may actively try to avoid. The aggressive Humphrey was, understandably, feared by many of the females. But, although a female can sometimes bring an unwelcome relationship to an end—by calling out and attracting other males or by seizing an opportunity to escape—for the most part she must submit to the whims of any male who desires to take her away. And while there are times when a female appears to follow a male willingly, this may simply be the result of bitter punishment for disobedience on previous occasions.

  Once when Passion, quarter swollen, refused to follow Evered to the north, he attacked her four times, very severely indeed, in less than two hours. During the third of these assaults, Passion's hand was badly injured and afterwards she could not put it to the ground. Thus lamed she was even slower to obey Evered's imperious demands and his fourth attack was the worst of all. This time her frenzied screaming, along with the calls of her agitated offspring, Pom and Prof, attracted the attention of two males. When they arrived, hair bristling, to see what was afoot, Evered hastened to greet them and then, without as much as a backward glance at Passion, went off with his two friends. Passion, who was still uttering little whimpers and no doubt feeling very sorry for h
erself, must have been delighted to see him go.

  But she was not to be rid of him so easily. The next day he found her again, and this time she hastened to obey his imperious summons at once, limping after him as quickly as she could. She had learned her lesson well. Evered, as far as we know, kept her away from the other males for nearly two months—throughout two periods of full swelling. When she finally reappeared in her usual haunts, she was pregnant—presumably with Evered's child.

  One interesting aspect of Evered's long consortships is the fact that he quite often copulates with his females when they are not fully pink. This is very unusual behaviour in the wild. An adult male almost never courts a female except during the ten days of her maximum swelling, and she, for her part, does not willingly respond if he tries to force his attentions on her at any other time. If he persists she typically becomes fearful and tries to avoid him. But Evered, during his long consortships with two females, Athena and Dove, copulated with them on a number of occasions when they were either completely flat or, at most, one-quarter swollen. And each time they accepted his sexual advances quite calmly. Probably it was the same when he spent weeks with other females, but we were not there to see it.

  This whole set-up—the prolonged period of the exclusive relationship, the calm and relaxed atmosphere that prevails, and the unusual sexual interactions—suggests that chimpanzees have a latent capacity for the development of more permanent heterosexual pair bonding: a relationship more similar to the pattern of monogamy—or at least serial monogamy—that has become the cultural tradition in much of the western world.