Woollies are a pretty peaceful bunch; overall there is very little male-male aggression. That's not to say that males are very affiliative, they mostly ignore each other. When there is aggression it tends to consist of males crashing around in adjoining trees while pouting (think 5 year old who doesn't want to go to bed). In their riled-up state they usually shake branches at us researchers for good measure (it's nice to feel included).
Intergroup encounters however can be pretty intense. The majority of times we've seen males fall out of trees have been during these encounters. It is not uncommon for males to come away favoring an arm or sporting a new cut. The worst injury we've seen to date occurred during an intergroup encounter between P group and one of the non-study groups. Everyone’s favorite male in the group, Pete, had his face badly mangled at some point in the clash. We didn't see the injury happen but it looks like another male must have bitten a chunk out of Pete's lower lip.
It always amazes me the level of pain other animals seem to take in stride; I would be curled up in a ball screaming, but Pete went about his day (eating, moving, even playing with a juvenile), only occasionally stopping to press his hand to his face. One pattern that seems to be emerging is that smaller males seem to come away with injuries more often. Of course this is merely anecdotal for the time being. The main question is – what are groups, specifically males, fighting over?
Intergroup encounters however can be pretty intense. The majority of times we've seen males fall out of trees have been during these encounters. It is not uncommon for males to come away favoring an arm or sporting a new cut. The worst injury we've seen to date occurred during an intergroup encounter between P group and one of the non-study groups. Everyone’s favorite male in the group, Pete, had his face badly mangled at some point in the clash. We didn't see the injury happen but it looks like another male must have bitten a chunk out of Pete's lower lip.
It always amazes me the level of pain other animals seem to take in stride; I would be curled up in a ball screaming, but Pete went about his day (eating, moving, even playing with a juvenile), only occasionally stopping to press his hand to his face. One pattern that seems to be emerging is that smaller males seem to come away with injuries more often. Of course this is merely anecdotal for the time being. The main question is – what are groups, specifically males, fighting over?