Chimps use military-style tactics to gain advantage on rivals, study reveals

Research finds primates seek high ground to ascertain size and proximity of other groups before advancing or retreating

The tactic is so effective when the enemy is near that Sun Tzu recommends it in The Art of War: “He who occupies the high ground,” the Chinese general declared in the ancient military treatise, “will fight to advantage”.

But soldiers are not alone in having hit on the idea. Troops of chimpanzees in Ivory Coast have taken up the same strategy, researchers say, scaling hilltops for recce missions and advancing if the enemy is distant or outnumbered.

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