Ndaronse has been alpha male in his group of twenty-four chimpanzees for more than a decade, having been very successful at dethroning Safari who had been in power for a very short time. But recently, things are changing as age is catching up with him and younger, stronger, more intelligent males are coming up and challenging his position, in an effort to get a taste of the coveted life on the throne.

In his heyday Ndaronse would show his might by stamping on his feet rhythmically especially when he noticed the other chimps were resting and didn’t know of his whereabouts. Most effective were his hand clapping and dragging of branches which mainly targeted the senior males who were always found unawares, and scattered in different directions. After all was over he would lie on his back and other chimps would hasten to pay their respect in submissive greetings. Like a tribal chief he accepted all as his due. I remember vividly at the beginning of his reign as alpha male when he adopted a systematic strategy of dealing with those he thought were questioning the legality of his position. Early in the morning he would single out an individual from the group and each day for a whole week the individual would be beaten up thoroughly (we called this “disciplinary week”). This policy forced those that were mainly targeted to adopt a solitary life just to avoid his.
But this is all now changing, and while no one really knows when the changes started, the hierarchical order is gradually getting challenged by none other than Oscar, currently eleven years old and Ndaronse’s biological son!