MEET Siri, the fresh young eastern chimpanzee on the left. When this photo was taken Siri was 4. Faustino, on the right, is a grizzled 22-year-old. They aren't related, so it's a little strange to see the veteran male sharing a snack (in this case, lemongrass berries) with a youngling.
What's going on? If this was a snap of any old wild chimps, we would be hard-pressed to explain it. But these are chimps at Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, probably the best studied wild animals in the world.
We know them intimately. Faustino had a difficult childhood, since his mother gave birth again when he was only 3 ¼. The usual birth interval is four to six years, so Faustino didn't get the attention he might have expected. Among the primatologists of Gombe, his tantrums were legendary. Jane Goodall
But he grew out of the tantrum stage, and became a strong, respected male – the second-in-command beta male of the group. In 2005, however, he was struck down by a disease that nearly killed him. Once recovered, he regained his beta male status. He now hangs out with other big males, but is touchingly tolerant of youngsters.
The social structure of these remarkable animals is documented in Tales from Gombe , by the wildlife photography specialists Anup Shah and Fiona Rogers.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Help the aged"
Correction, 10 October 2014: When this article was first published, it failed to mention that Faustino regained his status after his illness.
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