Photo: ReutersPhoto: Reuters

Chimpanzees are not quite the soft cuddly distant cousins of humans that we thought - because they have a key trait in common with us.

We're both natural-born killers, scientists have shown. And in fact, evidence suggests our closest animal relatives have an almost psychopathic tendency towards violence and slaughter that is not the result of human interference.

A widely-held theory is that chimps only turn on each other when humans disrupt their forest habitats or food supplies. But the new research indicates this is wishful thinking.

In reality, chimps fight and kill to get what they want and "eliminate rivals", the authors said.

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