Sicotte P
Department of Anthropology, Université de Montréal, Qué., Canada.
Folia Primatol (Basel). 1995;65(1):14-24. doi: 10.1159/000156871.
In bimale groups of mountain gorillas, conflicts between the silverbacks sometimes induce infants and females to interpose between the opponents. This paper describes a set of 40 such interpositions, using data from 380 h of focal observation of the silverbacks in 2 groups at the Karisoke Research Center. Aggressive interactions between males can be disruptive for females and infants: they might prevent them from feeding and resting normally. Interpositions occurred in 10-25% of the conflicts between silverbacks. None of the males seemed to receive a greater proportion of interpositions. Interpositions increased the interval between conflicts in one of the research groups. As a mechanism for resolving conflicts, interpositions could be advantageous when control interventions are not possible, i.e. when the individuals in conflict are the most dominant of the group. Because they might reduce the rate of aggression between males, these interpositions could also be one of the mechanisms allowing male coexistence in gorillas.
在山地大猩猩的双雄群体中，银背大猩猩之间的冲突有时会促使幼崽和雌性大猩猩介入对手之间。本文利用在卡里索克研究中心对两个群体的银背大猩猩进行380小时重点观察所获得的数据，描述了一组40次此类介入行为。雄性之间的攻击性互动可能会干扰雌性和幼崽：这些互动可能会妨碍它们正常进食和休息。介入行为发生在银背大猩猩之间10%至25%的冲突中。似乎没有哪只雄性大猩猩得到的介入比例更高。在其中一个研究群体中，介入行为增加了冲突之间的间隔时间。作为解决冲突的一种机制，当控制干预不可行时，即当冲突中的个体是群体中最具主导地位的个体时，介入行为可能具有优势。由于它们可能会降低雄性之间的攻击频率，这些介入行为也可能是大猩猩雄性能够共存的机制之一。
