David Attenborough’s new show Dynasties won over viewers this weekend with the amazing story of defiant chimpanzee leader David.
However, prepare the tissues, as we have some very sad news.
Despite surviving a very-near scrape with death on the show when he was almost overthrown before coming back to regain his tribe, it has sadly been revealed that David has since passed away.
According to The Daily Telegraph, seven months after cameras stopped rolling on David for the BBC series, the alpha male chimp was found beaten to death.
“He died from wounds inflicted from what I’m sure are these young males,” Jill Pruetz, director of the groundbreaking Fongoli Savanna Chimpanzee Project, said, in reference to David’s rivals on the show, Jumkin and Luther.
“There aren’t other animals that would have inflicted wounds like that – especially when you have multiple individuals attacking a single individual.
“He was very aggressive that’s why he held onto his dominant status for so long. He was pretty clever but our best interpretation of what happened is that these adult males jumped him.”
She added: “Jumkin who was a beta male is now the alpha. There’s a huge absence. It’s like more than one chimp is gone. The dynamic is really different. I imagine Jumkin will be alpha for a while. However, you can see Luther [another beta] already challenging him a bit.”
Well, all we can say is RIP David the Chimp.
Still, he was the longest-reigning alpha in the group’s history, and with a baby left behind – as we saw in the series – we imagine Jumkin and Luther may have to watch their backs in the future.
Dynasties continues next Sunday (November 18) on BBC One.
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