Callum Jones
Horror unfolded in Boussou, West Africa, after a famous tool-using chimpanzee ripped a baby from its mother's arms and killed her.
Chimpanzees in the area have long been a point of interest for tourists and academics after they were first observed using stone hammers and anvils to chop up their food.
For decades, scientists have visited the remote African site to study the animal and its particularly unusual but clever behaviour.
The chimpanzees live near the Nimba Mountains surrounded by a populated farming community that say the chimps are the reincarnation of their ancestors.
Advert
However, in recent years the number of apes has reduced to just four.
And while scientists and tourists have studied the apes for decades without problems, tragedy struck last Friday (20 September) as one of the two remaining male chimpanzees grabbed an eight-month old baby girl from her mother's arms.
The animal then took the baby into the forest and brutally killed her.
Advert
Those who were at the scene told local media that the girl may have angered the chimp by using its tools.
Meanwhile, others reports have suggested the girl's organs have since been harvested for food.
Chief researcher at the Bossou institute, Gen Yamakoshi, told the Times that chimpanzees 'no longer fear humans'.
"It is not clear if the accidents are as a result of food or excitement. It is similar behaviour to how chimps treat one another. If they are excited they cannot control their behaviour," the expert added.
Advert
Joseph Doré, a local who is blaming the Bossou Environmental Research Institute, told the Times: "It’s the way she was killed, that’s what angered the population."
Doré told the Guinea News website that it was ultimately hunger that had driven the chimp to snatch and kill the baby.
He went on to say that a project to plant a new green corridor to connect the chimps with larger groups had displaced farmers, leaving both them and the animals short of food.