Dragon

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Monsters

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Dragon #

 

E x c e r p t   f r o m   ? B e a s t s   o f   t h e   F a r Southlands,? by the sage Fabius: There are many types of apes in the tropical lands, but the carnivorous ape is the most notorious and legendary. Many fables are told of this primate?s ferocity and lust for human flesh. The truth is less fantastic, of course; the carnivorous ape lives in remote areas and has rarely been studied. At one time, it was thought that apes were all vegetarian and that the carnivorous ape was an anomaly. Now it is known that all apes will eat meat to varying degrees, just as bears do. The carnivorous ape is simply a carnivorous member of an otherwise omnivorous family. It was my good fortune to have made friendship with a clan of Watanga tribesmen. These socalled savages live on the fringes of the southern Hepmonaland jungle, and my temporary residence there gave me an excellent opportunity to study a family group of carnivorous apes that roamed the nearby wilderness. The results of these two years of research are given here.

Description




As is well known, carnivorous apes have
a superficial resemblance to gorillas. They
are tall, broad, heavily built, and covered
with long, black hair. Albino carnivorous
apes are occasionally seen. Male apes
stand up to 7? tall and weigh up to 625 lbs.
Females are somewhat smaller, averaging
6? and 500 lbs.1

It is the physiology of the jaws that
shows the greatest distinction between
carnivorous apes and gorillas. The mouth
of the carnivorous ape is a bit longer and
drawn out than in gorillas, almost becoming a muzzle. The teeth are long and
sharp, with pointed incisors and canines
designed to cut and tear flesh. The ape is a
gluttonous eater, tearing off and swallowing chunks of flesh with every bite.

This ape has very keen senses, as befits
a carnivore. The senses of sight and smell
a r e   c o m p a r a b l e   t o   t h o s e   o f   t h e   g r e a t   c a t s .
T h e   a p e ? s   h e a r i n g   i s   a l s o   k e e n ,   m a k i n g   i t
h a r d   t o   a p p r o a c h   a   g r o u p   o f   t h e s e   b e a s t s
u n d e t e c t e d .

T h e   a r m s   a n d   l e g s   o f   t h e   c a r n i v o r o u s
a p e   a r e   l o n g e r   t h o u g h   n e a r l y   i d e n t i c a l   t o
t h o s e   o f   t h e   g o r i l l a .   S u r p r i s i n g l y ,   t h i s   a p e
h a s   b o n y   n a i l s   w h i c h   c u r v e   i n t o   t h e   f o r m
o f   c l a w s ;   t h i s   i s   u n u s u a l   i n   a   p r i m a t e .

L i k e   a l l   a p e s ,   t h e   c a r n i v o r o u s   a p e   i s
i n c r e d i b l y   s t r o n g .   A n   a d u l t   m a l e   i s   c a p a b l e
o f   d r a g g i n g   a   b u f f a l o   c a r c a s s   f o r   m i l e s   i n t o
t h e   j u n g l e .   O n e   a p e   w a s   s e e n   r o l l i n g   a n
e l e p h a n t ? s   c a r c a s s   o v e r   i n   a n   a t t e m p t   t o
g e t   i t   c l o s e r   t o   a   g r o u p   o f   p r o t e c t i v e   t r e e s .
C a r n i v o r o u s   a p e s   c a n   t h u s   e a s i l y   c a r r y   o f f
a   m a n ,   i f   t h e y   c h o o s e   t o   d o   s o .

Life and habits
F e m a l e   c a r n i v o r o u s   a p e s   g i v e   b i r t h   t o
s i n g l e   y o u n g   ( r a r e l y   t w o )   o n c e   e v e r y   f i v e
o r   s i x   y e a r s .   T h e   y o u n g   a r e   f u l l y   d e p e n d e n t   o n   t h e i r   m o t h e r s   f o r   t h r e e   y e a r s .
D u r i n g   t h i s   t i m e ,   t h e y   c l i n g   t o   t h e   h a i r   o n
t h e i r   m o t h e r s ?   b a c k s ,   o n l y   r a r e l y   m o v i n g
a w a y   f r o m   t h e m .   A t   t h e   a g e   o f   f o u r   t o
s e v e n   y e a r s ,   t h e   y o u n g   g r a d u a l l y   l e a r n   t o
m o v e   a r o u n d   i n   t r e e s   a n d   h u n t ,   g a i n i n g
f u l l   i n d e p e n d e n c e   a t   a g e   e i g h t .   F u l l   m a t u r i t y   c o m e s   a t   t h e   t e n t h   y e a r .

A s   f a r   a s   i s   k n o w n ,   c a r n i v o r o u s   a p e s
m a y   l i v e   u p   t o   4 0   y e a r s   o f   a g e .   T h e   e l d e r l y
a r e   e a s y   t o   p i c k   o u t ;   a s   t h e   a p e s   g e t   p a s t
3 0   y e a r s   o f   a g e ,   t h e i r   h a i r   g r a d u a l l y   t u r n s
g r a y   a t   t h e   t i p s .   T h e   o l d e s t   i n d i v i d u a l s
h a v e   a   d a r k   s i l v e r y   c o a t ,   a n d   w i t h   p r a c t i c e
a n   o b s e r v e r   m a y   n o t e   d i s t i n c t i v e   f a c i a l   a n d
b o d i l y   c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s   o f   i n d i v i d u a l   a p e s .

T h e   l i f e   h a b i t s   o f   t h e   c a r n i v o r o u s   a p e s
a r e   a n   o d d   m i x t u r e   o f   t h o s e   o f   t h e   l e o p a r d ,   l i o n ,   g o r i l l a ,   a n d   b e a r .   T h i s   i s   a   r e s u l t
o f   t h e i r   s i z e ,   d i e t ,   a n d   i n t e l l i g e n c e .   L i k e
o t h e r   a p e s ,   t h e   c a r n i v o r o u s   a p e   l i v e s   i n
s m a l l   f a m i l y   g r o u p s ,   u s u a l l y   n u m b e r i n g
a r o u n d   e i g h t   a d u l t s   b u t   s o m e t i m e s   r e a c h i n g   n u m b e r s   a s   h i g h   a s   2 0 .   W i t h i n   t h e s e
g r o u p s ,   t h e r e   i s   a b o u t   a   t w o - t o - o n e   r a t i o   o f
f e m a l e s   t o   m a l e s .   T h e   l e a d e r   o f   t h e   g r o u p
i s   t h e   l a r g e s t   m a l e .   T h e   l e a d e r   i s   o f t e n
c h a l l e n g e d   b y   y o u n g   m a l e s   i n   n o n l e t h a l
w r e s t l i n g   m a t c h e s ;   d e f e a t e d   c h a l l e n g e r s
a r e   d r i v e n   o f f   a n d   u s u a l l y   ( b u t   n o t   a l w a y s )
j o i n   a n o t h e r   f a m i l y   g r o u p .   D e f e a t e d   l e a d e r s   l e a v e   t h e   g r o u p   a n d   l i v e   a   s o l i t a r y
e x i s t e n c e   f o r   t h e   r e s t   o f   t h e i r   l i v e s ,   b e c o m i n g   a   p a r t i c u l a r   d a n g e r   t o   h u m a n s   d w e l l ing nearby.

W i t h i n   t h e   f a m i l y   g r o u p s ,   t h e   m a l e s   a r e
d o m i n a n t .   T h e y   g e t   t h e   c h o i c e   p a r t s   o f
k i l l e d   g a m e   a n d   t h e   b e s t   s l e e p i n g   a r e a s .
W h e n   a   k i l l   i s   b r o u g h t   i n ,   t h e   m a l e s   e a t
t h e i r   f i l l   f i r s t ,   f o l l o w e d   b y   t h e   f e m a l e s ;   t h e
y o u n g   a r e   l a s t   t o   f e e d .   I n   t i m e s   o f   s c a r c i t y ,
m a n y   o f   t h e   y o u n g   s t a r v e   t o   d e a t h.

C a r n i v o r o u s   a p e s   d o   n o t   e s t a b l i s h   a c t u a l
l a i r s ,   b u t   f a m i l y   g r o u p s   d o   h a v e   l a r g e
t e r r i t o r i e s   o v e r   w h i c h   t h e y   w i d e l y   r o a m .
T h e   s i z e   o f   t h e   t e r r i t o r y   i s   a b o u t   o n e   t o
t h r e e   s q u a r e   m i l e s   p e r   a d u l t   i n   t h e   g r o u p .
T h e   m a l e   a p e s   m a r k   t h e i r   t e r r i t o r i a l
b o u n d a r i e s   b y   s c a r r i n g   t r e e   t r u n k s   w i t h
t h e i r   n a i l s ,   a n d   a l s o   b y   r e l e a s i n g   a   m u s k y
s c e n t   f r o m   g l a n d s   i n   t h e i r   c h e e k s   ( c a r n i v o r o u s   a p e s   r e l e a s i n g   t h i s   s c e n t   a p p e a r   t o   b e
h i s s i n g   w i t h   o p e n   m o u t h s   a t   t r e e s   o r
o b j e c t s   t h e y   a r e   m a r k i n g ) .

S i n c e   c a r n i v o r o u s   a p e s   a r e   n o t   v e g e t a r i a n s ,   t h e y   d o   n o t   l i v e   i n   t h e   d e p t h s   o f   t h e
j u n g l e   w h e r e   l i t t l e   g a m e   i s   f o u n d .   T h e s e
a p e s   r o a m   a r e a s   w h e r e   t h e   j u n g l e   i s   b r o k e n   b y   h i l l s   o r   b y   t h e   e d g e   o f   t h e   s a v a n n a h ,   w h e r e   m u c h   m o r e   g a m e   i s   f o u n d
t h a n   d e e p   i n   t h e   r a i n   f o r e s t .2

The diet of the carnivorous ape is varied. The apes will take almost any kind of
meat they can get. Rodents make up nearly one-third of their diet. Another third is
made of things like carrion, snakes, tortoises, eggs, lizards, fish, and the larvae of
giant insects. Thus, two-thirds of the carnivorous ape?s diet comes from individual
foraging. The apes depend greatly on such
foraging because of their size, which
makes it necessary to have a large intake
of high-protein food.

The remainder of these apes? diet comes
from killed game. In this respect, the
carnivorous apes are like lions; they drag
the kill back to the group so all may eat.
The apes may hunt either in groups or
singly. Whenever a herd of large game
such as buffalo or wildebeest wanders
close to the apes? territory, all adult apes
join the hunt, except for nursing mothers.
More often, the only game available consists of antelope and warthogs. One group
of apes was seen attacking a giraffe,
although the intended prey viciously
kicked several of the hunters and was able
to run away.

Carnivorous apes do not wander very
far from their protective trees, due to
their fear of lions. Although one ape is a
match for one lion, the apes generally act
to protect the weaker members of their
family groups. Leopards do not seem to be
a major competitor, even though the leopards and apes are both tree climbers.
Where they coexist, the leopards usually
take the smaller, faster prey that the apes
can?t catch. However, it should be noted
that carnivorous apes are capable of short
bursts of speed and can easily outdistance
a running man.3

When hunting alone, the apes depend
on stealth. They often hide in trees overlooking trails or water, then leap out at
creatures passing by.4 At other times, the
apes hide in grass or bushes, dashing out
at their prey in hopes of catching it by
surprise. Whatever method is used, the
prey is doomed once the ape?s great
strength and sharp teeth come into play.
Rending and breaking limbs is an oftenseen tactic when a carnivorous ape means
to incapacitate a foe.

Carnivorous apes and men
The carnivorous ape has a reputation
for man-eating. While this is true to some
extent, by no means do they all eat men.
The apes can be compared to tigers in that
individuals will occasionally turn into maneaters, while the majority do not. Most of
the man-eaters are solitary apes who were
injured in some way, so as not to be able
to catch other prey; such apes are usually
defeated leaders cast out of their tribe.

Occasionally, however, an entire family
group will turn into man-eaters. These
groups are greatly feared by the native
tribes. The apes? cunning allows them to
make devastating raids on villages and
caravans. Palisade walls are no protection
against climbing apes. One group of 18
carnivorous apes attacked a slaver camp at
night, silently climbing the walls. Once
inside the camp, the apes tore apart huts
and smashed tents flat. Out of 32 slavers,
28 were killed, along with 50 manacled
slaves. The other six slavers saved themselves only by fleeing headlong into the
jungle, somehow escaping undetected.

Although carnivorous apes may hunt
men, men may also hunt the apes. Unscrupulous natives search out small family
groups, spear the adults, and capture the
young. The young are sold to similarly
unscrupulous traders. This is how carnivorous apes end up in places far from their
native jungle, such as hobgoblin lairs and
hill-giant clans. Carnivorous apes appear
to be more adaptable than their gorilla
cousins, and they may even thrive in foreign, temperate areas where old forests
are found.

Even stranger are the natives who worship carnivorous apes. One tribe believes
that killing a carnivorous ape brings great
luck and courage to the slayer; thus, one
of their rites of manhood is to kill a carnivorous ape. Another tribe is known to
regard the apes as sacred. This latter tribe
keeps carnivorous apes as pets and feeds
captives to them; such apes wander the
tribal village freely and are said to be well
behaved and friendly ? to the villagers
only, of course.

In summary, it should be seen that carnivorous apes are merely another jungle
predator, instead of the bloodthirsty maneaters of legend. However, their size and
intelligence make them creatures to be
wary of. Wandering through their territories is a perilous undertaking, for a single
male ape is the equal of a half-dozen menat-arms.

Notes
1.  Treat female carnivorous apes as
gorillas for hit dice and attacks, but allow
them the same keen senses as the males.

2. Carnivorous apes can move through
trees (brachiation) at a rate of 10?. They
can also run an 18? sprint, but only for
one round. This sprint is used when the
ape leaps out of an ambush; if attacking in
the same round as it sprints, the ape?s
attacks are at +2 to hit for that round, but
its armor class drops from AC 6 to AC 7.

3. When hiding in ambush (in grass or
up in trees), the carnivorous ape has a
50% chance of surprising its prey.

4. When the ape hides in a tree and
leaps down on its prey, the prey (if hit)
takes 2-8 hp damage from the impact.