Every year, the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) competition produces stunning images for the world, but among this year’s best images is one that might be masking dark, sinister undertones.
The picture titled ‘The bonobo and the mongoose’ was clicked by Christian Ziegler in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At first glance, it seems as though this is a moving scene between the two animals, in which one animal is taking care of another. However, according to experts, it’s more likely that the bonobo took the young mongoose cub after slaughtering its mother.
On the Natural History Museum (NHM) website, the image carries the following text: “Bonobos are mainly herbivorous but occasionally they hunt. The mongoose pup – eventually released unharmed – may have been taken when its mother was killed.”
According to the BBC, the Bonobo may have intended to eat the baby mongoose.
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In a conversation with the BBC, a behavioural ecologist and evolutionary anthropologist Dr Barbara Fruth said that sometimes when Bonobos catch large prey, and the meal is too big, the ape does not immediately kill all its victims. Instead, they keep some of their prey alive as pets. Usually, these prey are eaten later.
Dr Fruth, who is the head of the LuiKotale Bonobo Project, and has been researching these animals for more than 20 years, thinks that this is most likely what was happening when the image was taken.
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The tiny mongoose pup from the picture did eventually escape the grim fate and get its freedom.
Describing the scene, the photographer said: “The bonobo held and stroked the little mongoose for more than an hour,” adding that the ape, carried “the pup carefully as it climbed a tree to eat fruit.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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