Tia's baby Aimee taken by hunters

I am currently in Senegal but about to return to the U.S., after having dealt with a problem that Johnny Dondo Kante called me about this past Saturday.  An infant had been taken by hunters, and he thought she was probably from the Fongoli chimp community.  He was right, and I flew to Senegal on Monday, arriving in Kedougou on Tuesday.  For now, the ending is a happy one - we reunited Aimee with Tia.  Tia is still not 100% though, due to wounds she received from the hunters' dogs.  This National Geographic Society blog gives more detail about the story, and I'll keep you updated on it as well, when I return to the U.S.

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news

/chiefeditor/2009/01/chimpanzee-baby-rescue.html

New Baby at Fongoli!

The big news this holiday season at Fongoli is that Tumbo (of National Geographic 'hunting with tools' fame) has had her first infant!!  I had just arrived in Senegal for my holiday vacation and was out following the chimps for the second day.  Tumbo has always been well-habituated for a female - as are most of the young chimps who have grown up with us - and I heard someone walking up behind me as I was sitting on the ground, collecting data on a male.  I turned and saw that it was Tumbo and turned back around so as not to rudely stare at her, given she hadn't seen me in 4 months yet was calm as usual in my presence.  As she passed by, she made her presence known by stomping just a little, as if to say "I'm coming through. Stay still.".  I wondered why she felt the need to stomp past - maybe it was because she hadn't seen me in awhile and she felt the need to assert herself...?  I looked again, as she continued and SHE HAD A TINY INFANT CLINGING TO HER BELLY!!!!  Thus, the "careful...!" message as she stomped past. It was December 23rd, and my field assistant and project manager Dondo Kante had seen her on December 3rd with no infant.  So, a December baby - yet to be named, as I can not quite make out if it is a male or a female.  She is a very good mother, holding the infant very close and supporting it each time it hangs away from her body (so I can't see the relevant parts to know whether it will be 'Cy' or 'Cynthia' - a little nod to the Iowa State University mascot, Cy).  Tumbo still travels with the males, as she has been prone to do, but then again the community here is more cohesive in general regarding male-female ranging and social patterns.  It will be interesting to see how Tumbo's behavior changes - or doesn't!  And, of course, to see if baby grows up to be a prolific hunter like his/her mom!

Male-male competition

A brief update from Kelly in Senegal...where the chimps are coming back towards the village.  Recently, Kelly and the crew have been hiking out to the farther reaches of the home ranges, walking at least an hour to get to the closest point... Farafa is an adult female that has 3 offspring that we know of.  Her youngest, Fanta, is about 3 1/2 years of age right now...  Seems Farafa has been causing a lot of tension among the 10 adult males in the community.  Yopogon is currently Alpha, with Lupin at rank #4 and Bilbo (adult male in the photo below, crossing a recently cleared field) weighing in at #6... Here is what Kelly has to say:

"As for the chimps, things have been just great this week! And crazy!  Farafa is swelling, and the boys are just crazy about it.  Yopogon has already lost his left pinky toe and acquired a nasty gash on his right bicep.  Bilbo, Lupin and others also have various different cuts on their bodies due to the confrontations.  Needless to say, it has been much easier to find and follow them now because of the large group they are in, as well as the fact that they have come back to Fongoli!  I was just so tired of Tukantaba and Wakalare!"

I'm going to be participating in a National Geographic Live! Emerging Explorers Salon next week in Washington, D.C., if you happen to be in the area.  This is more of a discussion between the audience and Explorers, mediated by Boyd Matson of National Geographic:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/nglive/washingtondc/f2008/single/explorers.html

Hunting update

My current project manager, Kelly Boyer (formerly of the Houston Zoo and now a graduate student at Iowa State) has sent me a few updates lately. I'll just paste one here.  Another observation (of Tumbo hunting bushbabies with a tool) brings our sample size up to 56 records of tool-assisted hunting!  Most hunts are still by females and young males, with only a few adult males ever exhibiting the behavior.  The picture at right is one taken by Kelly.  It is of adult female Nickel (one of the most prolific hunters) with her 1.5 year-old infant Teva and Nellie (Nickel's juvenile sister and Teva's aunt).

The observation described below of David hunting (and not sharing the meat of!) a vervet monkey will be added to a manuscript Stacy Lindshield (Ph.D. student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at ISU) and I are currently preparing.  Here is Kelly's news (I've noted the age-sex classes of individuals in parentheses):

...I did see them this week! AND (subadult male) David had a vervet!  I didn't see the hunt, but I believe it was the hunt that helped me find them because I had just heard one loud WRAA bark and then nothing... David kept nearly the whole monkey for himself, despite Mamadou (adult male), Tia (adult female) and Bo (adolescent male) begging and begging... Yopogon (alpha male) acted as if he didn't care for most of the morning, until one moment when he stood up, piloerect and swaying, charged David and gave him a good beating! Twice! But still, David kept the monkey! In the end, he gave the skin and what little was left to Mamadou. What a pal.  

National Geographic Weekend radio

If you want to hear me talk about the Fongoli chimps on the radio, you can go to these podcasts on National Geographic Weekend's new website.  The dates are April 26 and July 7.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/radio/national-geographic-weekend.html

Also, if you happen to be in the Washington, D.C. area, I'll be participating in a National Geographic Live! "Salon".  Here is the link:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/nglive/washingtondc/f2008/single/explorers.html

Neighbor Ape is incorporated!

Just got word that our non-profit organization 'Neighbor Ape' is now incorporated in the U.S. I will be posting more information at http://www.savannachimp.com/ soon. In chimp news, on my last day out in the field at Fongoli, I was able to observe adolescent male David use a "spear" in an effort to get a bushbaby from a cavity in a Wolo (Malinke name) tree. He wasn't successful - couldn't tell if cavity was empty or not either - but it was great to see nonetheless. It was also ISU student and project manager Kelly Boyer's first glance at the behavior. Check out the bundles of "spears" in the photo here - the longest is a little over a meter in length. Otherwise, the chimps are in small parties these days, as fruit is scarce and none of the females are currently in estrus. Soon, thought, the Minkon (Spondias) fruit will ripen, and most of the community will gather together again.