Abstract
In almost all primate families, small vertebrates are occasionally consumed. Catarhinids such as baboons capture and consume mammals the size of young antelopes. But it is chimpanzees in particular that hunting behavior is the most frequently observed and the most complex in its implementation. Like humans, these great apes show a definite attraction for meat, even if it is not essential to their physiology. This attraction is all the more remarkable given that predatory behavior carries a certain cost in terms of energy and risk (hunting failure, injury, mortality). It is therefore likely that predatory behaviour was present even before the human-chimpanzee divergence. Nonetheless, non-human apes have a predominantly plant-based diet, to which they add the consumption of insects and larvae. Among chimpanzees, there is a wide variety of behaviours from one region to another and from one group to another. This is particularly true when it comes to hunting small mammals, especially monkeys such as the red colobus. It is much more developed in some populations than in others, and has been particularly studied in Gombe (Tanzania). It's a collective activity, mainly carried out by males, the best hunters also being the main meat consumers. When females capture prey, they face a greater risk than males of having it stolen, especially when there are many males in the group.
