Rare Albino Chimp Found Murdered Just Days After First Sighting In The Wild

An extremely rare white-furred albino chimpanzee was reportedly found brutally and viciously murdered at the hands of older chimps in its community just days after its first sighting in the wild.

Researchers reportedly recently observed the first known case of a wild chimpanzee with albinism inside the dense forests of Uganda. However, the young chimp was soon killed at the hands of older chimps in the community, according to California News Times.

The horrifying discovery was reportedly described by researchers in a study published in the American Journal of Primatology on July 16. The study explained that only a handful of non-human primates with albinism have been found in the wild in the past.

The white-furred infant chimp was first reportedly spotted within the Budongo Forest Reserve in northwest Uganda. The research team estimated that the chimp was only 14 to 19 days old at the first sighting, according to IFLScience.

However, the researchers reportedly discovered the gruesome murder of the infant chimp on July 19 after they heard the aggressive screams and the cries of an infant from afar.

The other chimps in the group were said to have already shown signs of aggression towards the infant before the attack. In one instance, the researchers noticed members of a group near the infant and his mother making “hoos and waa barks” which is how chimps react when they encounter dangerous or strange animals, such as snakes or unfamiliar humans.

An altercation then broke out, and an adult male struck the infant and her mother. They forced the mother and the infant up a tree while the rest continued to whoop and bark below.

The chimps in the community were also seen attacking the infant and biting the fingers, legs, and ears of the screaming young animal. Eventually, the infant was passed to an adult female chimp who started biting the infant’s head repeatedly, apparently causing its death, as the infant remained silent and stopped moving after an aggressive bite.

Unusually, the chimps then proceeded to stroke, sniff, and inspect the carcass and subjected the body to some exceptional behavior such as sticking their finger into the anus of the carcass. The infant reportedly garnered extra attention from the group members due to its unusual appearance.

The research team reportedly collected the body for an autopsy and noted that the infant's skin, hair, and eyes lacked pigmentation. The young chimp weighing some 4.6-pound (2.1 kilograms) had sustained deep gashes in its head and a crack in its skull.

"The initial reaction of community members towards the infant appeared to be different from a typical situation in which chimpanzees encounter females with a newborn for the first time," the authors noted.