Chimpanzees evolving?

Question

Let me propose a hypothetical situation and give me your opinion on what would be human reaction. Say that in response to their losing their natural habitat and access to the normal amount of fruit they are use to say chimpanzees began to evolve and hunt more often. Say it began to look like they would form their own sentient race. Would we as humans allow them to go that far and how would we react to them being sentient?

Answer 1

Given the small number of chimpanzees in the world, a single mutation could have a rather dramatic effect on the population.

However, genetics don't act in response to an event.  If anything chimps gain a breeding advantage from either avoiding people or acting docilely.

Answer 2

The second they became too dangerous, they would become extinct

Answer 3

There would be humans that would want to detroy them...

But the majority of humans would protect the newly higher-intelligent race...

Humans go out of our way to protect all animals, i cannot imagine that we would do any different for an evolving animal.

Anyway, they could not be such a great threat... We are 10's of thousands of years of evolution (with higher intelligence) then they have.

Answer 4

IF they somehow survived long enough to become more intelligent, I do not see that humans would have a problem with a second 'sentient' species on the planet. I think the scientific community, at the very least, would welcome this development. This assumes, though, that they aren't living on top of oil fields or anything else humans want. In that case their survival would be doubtful.

Answer 5

Why do you think our ancestors kept a low profile when the dinos roamed the earth?