Affiliation:
1. Wild Minds Lab, School of Psychology and Neuroscience University of St Andrews St Andrews UK
2. Bugoma Primate Conservation Project Bugoma Central Forest Reserve Hoima Uganda
3. Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences University of Geneva Geneva Switzerland
Abstract
AbstractWe report the presence of habitual ground nesting in a newly studied East African chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) population in the Bugoma Central Forest Reserve, Uganda. Across a 2‐year period, we encountered 891 night nests, 189 of which were classified as ground nests, a rate of ~21%. We find no preliminary evidence of socio‐ecological factors that would promote its use and highlight local factors, such as high incidence of forest disturbance due to poaching and logging, which appear to make its use disadvantageous. While further study is required to establish whether this behavior meets the strict criteria for nonhuman animal culture, we support the argument that the wider use of population and group‐specific behavioral repertoires in flagship species, such as chimpanzees, offers a tool to promote the urgent conservation action needed to protect threatened ecosystems, including the Bugoma forest.
Funder
National Geographic Society
National Center of Competence in Research Affective Sciences - Emotions in Individual Behaviour and Social Processes
Subject
Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics