Since the 1980s, the Virunga mountain gorilla population has almost doubled, now reaching
480 individuals living in a 430‐km 2 protected area. Analysis of the gorillas' ranging …

Highlights • We examine female and male participation in intergroup encounters in a wild
primate. • Low participation in large groups, perhaps indicative of load lightening. • Females …

In humans and chimpanzees, most intraspecific killing occurs during coalitionary intergroup
conflict. In the closely related genus Gorilla, such behavior has not been described. We …

We examined demographic and behavioural influences on the dispersal decisions of 31
male mountain gorillas living in mixed-sex groups. Approximately half (45%) of silverback …

Mothers are crucial for mammals’ survival before nutritional independence, but many social
mammals reside with their mothers long after. In these species the social adversity caused …

Density-dependent processes such as competition for resources, migration, predation, and
disease outbreaks limit the growth of natural populations. The analysis of 50 years of …

Group-living animals face a number of threats from extragroup conspecifics: from individuals
seeking mating opportunities to rival groups attempting to access limited resources. The …

Intergroup interactions in social animals can vary from hostile to affiliative and may be
influenced by factors such as competitive ability, resource values and existing intergroup …

The effect of feeding competition on foraging efficiency is an important link between ecological
factors and the social organization of gregarious species. We examined the effects of …

Socioecological models predict that contest competition will arise when high quality foods
can be usurped or monopolized, leading to more favorable energy balances and higher …