Monkey morality
Sharing might not be as nice as it's cracked up to be.
14 January 2004
MICHAEL HOPKIN

Have you ever given a friend part of your dessert just so they will stop
bugging you for some? You're not alone - chimpanzees and monkeys share their
food with others to avoid hassle too.

The question of why animals give food to others is a tricky one. Previous
theories suggested that generous animals might benefit from similar kindness
at a later time.

But the no-hassle approach offers a simpler explanation, says Jeffrey
Stevens, who carried out the study at the University of Minnesota. Scrounger
and donor are both acting in their best interests - the beggar gets food and
the other is left in peace.

Stevens placed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) or squirrel monkeys (Saimiri
boliviensis) in a cage and provided them with a meal of fruit. In an
adjoining cage was a hungry member of the same species.

The primates rarely passed food through the cage to their hungry mate next
door. But if the partition was opened - giving the hungry animal the chance
to beg, steal or fight for food - sharing was common.

It is analogous to a parent buying a child a toy just to shut them up, says
Stevens. "It's a selfish way to stop the constant pestering," he says.

Intriguingly, hungry chimps harassed their neighbour more when the food was
cut into small chunks. This could reflect the fact that a beggar is more
likely to get a handout if it doesn't seriously deplete the donor's stash.

Read the rest at Nature
http://www.nature.com/nsu/040112/040112-4.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek.
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