Use of Caves by Savanna Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Tomboronkoto Region of Southeastern Senegal

Indirect evidence has been found to indicate that chimpanzees in the Tomboronkoto region of southeastern Senegal use natural caves during the late dry season (May-June) for resting and eating. The Tomboronkoto region is the site of a newly-initiated research project on the ecology and behavior of savanna chimpanzees. Chimpanzees are not yet habituated at this site. Tomboronkoto (12¼72ÕN, 12¼22ÕW) is approximately 48 km SE of the Assirik site in Parc National du Niokolo Koba in Senegal. This new study site is south of the Gambia River, while the Assirik area lies north of the river. At Tomboronkoto, chimpanzees are sympatric with Bedik, Bassari, Malinke, and Fulani peoples. Although many of the animals known to occur in the Niokolo Koba Park also occur in Tomboronkoto, densities of mammals outside the park are comparatively low. The most commonly sighted mammal in the region is the patas monkey. Baboons occur at significantly lower levels in Tomboronkoto compared to Niokolo Koba. Predators that occur within the national park, such as lions, leopards, and spotted hyaenas do not occur in Tomboronkoto

Successful Return of a Wild Infant Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) to its Natal Group after Capture by Poachers

We report the successful return of an infant chimpanzee, aged approximately nine months, to her mother following the infant’s capture by poachers. The infant received only minor wounds in the incident, but her mother received severe wounds from hunters’ dogs during the capture. One of us (DK) was able to confiscate the infant from the hunters without incident. She was kept in fairly isolated surroundings in order to minimize disease transmission from humans, until the fate of her mother was determined. Following five days in captivity, we successfully returned the infant to her mother. The infant and mother appear to be in fine health eighteen months later. This case of a return of a dependant infant to its mother is perhaps the only successful record for wild chimpanzees, in part because we are able to follow the chimpanzees in question. The outcome was dependant on a number of factors that led to the successful return and acceptance of the infant, such as quick identification and confiscation of the infant, relatively good health of mother and infant, and brief separation time of the mother-infant pair

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Behavioral Responses to Stresses Associated With Living in a Savanna-Mosaic Environment: Implications for Hominin Adaptations to Open Habitats

Anthropologists have long been interested in the behavioral ecology of nonhuman primates living in savannas given what we know of early hominin environments. As expected, chimpanzees in the Fongoli community in southeastern Sénégal show a unique suite of behavioral adaptations to stresses associated with their savanna habitat. While Fongoli chimpanzees are species-typical in certain regards, such as including ripe fruit in the diet during all months of the year, they also adjust their behavior to the particular stresses of this dry, hot and open environment. These behaviors include using caves as shelters during the dry season, soaking in pools of water during the hot, early rainy season, and traveling and foraging at night during maximum phases of the moon. Adult males of this 35-member community serve as focal subjects in a long-term study of the ecology and behavior of chimpanzees in a savanna-mosaic environment. Here, we report on Fongoli chimpanzee activity budgets, grouping behavior, and habitat use during the dry versus wet season based on over 2500 hours of observation from March 2005–July 2006. Findings support the hypothesis that ecological pressures associated with a savanna environment significantly affect great ape behavior. The Fongoli chimpanzees’ large home range (\u3e65km²) is sometimes used cyclically, with the community traveling as one large party, in contrast to the typical chimpanzee fission-fusion pattern. Combined with data on temperature in the various habitats within the savanna mosaic, results show that Fongoli chimpanzees minimize energy expenditure during the hottest months and at the hottest time of day by resting more and traveling less, in addition to selectively using small patches of closed-canopy habitats, such as gallery forest. They move significantly more during early hours of the hot, dry season specifically and range in smaller parties at this time compared to during the wet season. The stresses associated with a savanna-mosaic environment and chimpanzees’ behavioral adjustments to them have important implications for understanding early hominin behavior in similar environments

Chimpanzees in Bandafassi Arrondissement, Southeastern Senegal: Field Surveys as a Basis for the Sustainable Community-Based Conservation

The western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) is considered as one of the most threatened ape species, facing a dramatic decline over the last decade1,2. The latest conservation action plans classified Senegal as “an exceptionally important priority area” for chimpanzee protection, which demands immediate attention3. Chimpanzees have been expatriated from at least two African countries and IUCN estimated the Senegalese population to be almost extinct, numbering between 200 and 4004. Most apes range in small isolated communities in intense sympatry with local ethnic groups. Major threats include human encroachment, deforestation for crops, gold and iron digging, along with limited pet trade5. Additionally, this population lives at the northern edge of species’ distribution, in extremely hot, dry and open savanna landscape that characterized an important transitional period in human evolution6. Chimpanzees though have a mythical relation with Senegalese people; therefore local folklore and taboos allows them to share space. This project is part of the investigation “Conservation of chimpanzees in south-eastern Senegal: the human element” supervised by JD Pruetz. Initially, we identified ape communities in Bandafassi Arrondissement, their ranging patterns, key water and food sources, and particularly chimpanzees’ relation to humans via an ethnoprimatological approach7

New Range Record for the Lesser Spot-nosed Guenon (Cercopithecus petaurista) in Southeastern Senegal

The lesser spot-nosed guenon (Cercopithecus petaurista Schreber 1774) was known to range, historically, in the southwestern or Casamance region of Senegal (Dupuy 1971); its status in that country has been questionable in more recent times1 (Figure 1). The recent sightings of a lesser spot-nosed guenon in southeastern Senegal (12º39’N, 12º13’W) to be reported here appear to be the first record for this species in the Kedougou (formerly, Tambacounda) region. The guenon was seen by researchers at the Fongoli study site where chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) have been observed continuously since April 2001. Although Guinea baboons (Papio hamadryas papio), patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas), vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops sabeus), and Senegal bushbabies (Galago senegalensis) are commonly seen, the lesser spot-nosed guenon had never been seen at Fongoli in the four years of continuous study by researchers before this sighting, and it was never seen again in the following four years after the series of observations described here

Laterality in Termite-Fishing by Fongoli Chimpanzees: Preliminary Report

Many studies in both free-ranging and captive apes have shown that some forms of laterality of hand function occur in non-human primates1. However, true handedness (sensu McGrew and Marchant2), when most individuals show a skew in hand preference in the same direction across different tasks, seems to be restricted to humans. Other hominoids appear unlateralized in simpler tasks, such as reaching, picking up objects, and grooming3, but they show hand preference for more complex tasks, such as tool-using2, 4, 5 or elaborate food processing6, 7. Laterality in termite-fishing8 has been studied only at Gombe, and the two published data-sets are congruent. McGrew and Marchant2, 9 reported that most (27 of 36) chimpanzees showed an individualized hand preference for right or left, as did Lonsdorf and Hopkins10 (16 of 17) for termite-fishing in the same community. No other data have been published for chimpanzee communities elsewhere. This study asks if termite-fishing by Fongoli chimpanzees is lateralized, shows hand preference (individuals are lateralized, but with no populational preference for either hand), or task specialization (all or most individuals use the same hand)

Planted Trees as Corridors for Primates at El Zota Biological Field Station, Costa Rica

We conducted a study at the privately owned El Zota Biological Field Station in Costa Rica to assess the effects of forest management techniques on primate ecology and behavior. While many conservation-oriented studies note the need for “corridors” to promote dispersal between isolated habitat fragments, few studies provide quantitative information on their use by primates. From July to August 2002, we studied the three primate species that occur at the El Zota Biological Field Station in Costa Rica — Cebus capucinus, Ateles geoffroyi, Alouatta palliata — to compare their use of planted versus naturally forested areas. We collected approximately 25 hours of data to quantify the general activities exhibited by primates in these types of habitat

Ethoarchaeology and Elementary Technology of Unhabituated Wild Chimpanzees at Assirik, Senegal, West Africa

Like other wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), the savanna-dwelling apes of Assirik, Senegal, West Africa, make and use tools and so have an elementary technology. Unlike their more famous counterparts elsewhere in Africa, these apes are not observable at close range. Instead, they are amenable to etho-archaeological study, in which the indirect data of artifacts, remnants, and fecal contents add to the sparse behavioral data. These open-country hominoids show 15 behavioral patterns that appear to be material culture, in the minimal sense of socially learned behavioral diversity. These can be divided into subsistence (N = 7), social (5) and maintenance (3) activities shown at customary, habitual, or present levels of frequency. Some patterns, such as Termite Fish or Baobab Crack, leave behind assemblages of hundreds of artifacts or remnants in predictable contexts at enduring worksites. Other patterns are rare and ephemeral and are known only from anecdotal data. Almost all artifacts and remnants are non-lithic, and so their perishability limits their discovery and analysis. Maximally productive use of such data depends on close collaboration between archaeology and primatolog