Drumming, Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Craft Chocolate
One of the most iconic British adverts involves a gorilla drumming to Phil Collins with...
Print / PDFOne of the most iconic British adverts involves a gorilla drumming to Phil Collins with...
Print / PDFOne of the most iconic British adverts involves a gorilla drumming to Phil Collins with a purple background. Yes, it’s that ad; the one for a well known milk chocolate bar which contains twice as much sugar as proper chocolate; AKA ‘Dairy Milk’.
With a strange twist that shows science really can be stranger than fiction, primatologists have now discovered that chimpanzees really do drum to communicate individualised messages. And craft chocolate provides a great way to celebrate, and preserve, this drumming (and also the chest drumming by mountain gorillas) and send a personalised message!
Quite why the ‘drumming ad’ resonated is part of its magic. Gorillas do sort of “drum”, but this is more about beating on their chests than drumming on a separate object. And as Dian Fossey showed with the magical gorillas in the DRC’s Virunga National Park, this chest drumming is a show to impress and overawe other gorillas.
However, recently, primatologists have discovered some chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest, Uganda who ‘drum’ on tree roots to communicate individual messages with unique styles. These chimpanzees also ‘drum’ like gorillas by hitting their chests (and also the ground), and in social contexts they also “pant hoot” (AKA shouting), shake branches, and drag objects to signal strength and show power. But when they are apart from the group, these chimpanzees spend a considerable amount of time drumming on tree (and in particular the buttress roots of these trees). This drumming creates diverse vibrations and sounds that can carry for up to a kilometre. And the chimpanzees develop distinct and unique drumming signatures. The scientists believe that the chimpanzees are using these distinct drumming profiles to “signal effectively [their] identity, location and … could aid allies in facilitating reunions when dispersed or in maintaining awareness of potential rivals”.
So it’s not quite Phil Collins… But definitely drumming as we’d recognise a form of personalised communication.
Sadly, both the mountain gorillas of the Virunga and the chimpanzees of The Budongo are threatened by deforestation, mining (often, but not always, illegal), poaching for ‘bushmeat’ (yes, gorilla and chimpanzee meat is still seen as a delicacy in some parts), climate change, and a host of diseases that humans have often worsened.
Craft chocolate provides a powerful tool to resist deforestation and other deprivations: It’s a critical element in raising living standards for the people living in the forests and to preserve the habitats of gorillas, chimpanzees, and a myriad other animals and plants living in the rainforest. Cacao thrives in the rainforest amongst other plants; the canopy of rainforest provides shade, and a perfect environment for the midges and other insects critical for pollination. The rainforest also means that cacao’s extraordinary water needs can be recycled (it takes 1500-2000 litres of water to grow the cocoa needed for a single chocolate bar).
At the same time ‘commodity cacao’ all too often involves the destruction of the rainforest as burning the rainforest can make the soil more fertile over the short term. And this deforestation destroys the habitat of the gorillas, chimpanzees and other forest animals. It also severely depletes water levels, and potentially will create new deserts that neither humans or (most) animals can inhabit.
So if you want those gorillas to keep beating their chests and those chimpanzees to keep drumming their tree trunks, please consider some of the bars below whose cocoa beans are from the Congo and Uganda: They taste better, they are healthier, they are better for the farmers, better for the environment, and better for both the gorillas and chimpanzees!
Thanks as ever for your support,
Spencer
P.S. If you missed our discussion and ‘how-to’ on ceremonial cacao with Pablo last week, HERE is a link to the video and HERE is our article on the topic.
