In the mid-1970s, primatologist Jane Goodall witnessed something that changed her opinion of chimpanzees forever: A four-year conflict amongst the chimpanzees she was studying in Tanzania. Chimpanzees that knew each other started killing each other. It was essentially the primate equivalent of a civil war. And now, it’s happening again: Fighting within the largest known community of chimpanzees. NPR science correspondent <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/348779465/nathan-rott"target="_blank" >Nate Rott</a> helps us break down what’s going on and what it could tell us about how human communities can fall apart.  Read all of Nate’s story <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/04/13/nx-s1-5781149/chimpanzee-civil-war-primate-conflict-anthropology"target="_blank" >here</a>.  Interested in more science? Email us your question at <a href="mailto:shortwave@npr.org"target="_blank" >shortwave@npr.org</a>. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/shortwave"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org/shortwave</a>. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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Why a chimp 'civil war' shows how societies collapse

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