Tia and Aimee one year later

It's been over one year since Tia's daughter Aimee was taken by poachers, confiscated by my project manager Dondo Kante and returned to her mother by myself, Dondo and Michel Sahdjakho, another research assistant on the Fongoli Savanna Chimpanzee Project. Both Tia and Aimee have recovered well. This is a brief video I took of Tia feeding on figs while Aimee just hangs around. It is the middle of the dry season, but they are in one of the small areas of gallery forest, along Tukantaba ravine here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpu1GUA_TxU

More Fongoli chimp news...fire and things

I spoke on Iowa Public Radio's 'The Exchange' today about the Fongoli chimps' behavior around fire, along with some comments on Nickel's tool being showcased in the Smithsonian's upcoming Human Origins. The latter half of the show includes Dr. Benjamin Beck of the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, speaking about his chimpanzee conservation project in Rwanda as well as new developments at The Trust.

http://iowapublicradio.org/audio/theExchange/te100119.mp3?start%3D00%3A00%3A00.000%26end%3D00%3A46%3A30.000

Chimps and fire!

We just published a brief article on the Fongoli chimps' interactions with wildfires and implications for understanding this aspect of early hominid evolution. The article can be found in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Here is a link to a couple of news articles about the manuscript:

www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/dec/wildfires

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1222/2

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/12/23/chimps-dont-run-from-fire%E2%80%94they-dance-with-it/

New article about Fongoli chimps

Just published in the online journal PaleoAnthropology is an article that Paco Bertolani and I wrote about the Fongoli chimpanzees and their behavioral responses to the savanna environment in which they live.

http://www.paleoanthro.org/journal/contents_dynamic.asp

Nickel's tool to be showcased in Smithsonian!

Here is a press release about the new Human Origins exhibit that will open at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in March 2010. A "spear" tool made by Nickel (mother of Teva, daughter of Nene, and sister of Nellie) will be included.

"http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/nmnh_human_origins_announcement_release.htm"

After 6 months...Aimee and Tia

Photo of Mike by Frans Lanting

This week marks approximately the 6-month anniversary of Aimee's return to Tia after she was taken by poachers. I spent some time watching Aimee 2 days ago, before I left Fongoli for a brief trip to Tanzania. I was observing Diouf, an adult male who spent a couple of hours sleeping under the shade of a Saba vine "bush". As usual, Diouf stretched out on the ground rather than in the vines themselves or on a bigger limb as some of the chimps do. He is the largest chimp in the Fongoli community, so it was really endearing to see him playing a little with Aimee. A number of chimps came and went below the vines and, for awhile, Tia was lying next to Diouf, resting as well. Aimee, like most youngsters, could not be bothered to do anything as boring as sleeping, so she proceeded to play with whomever was nearby - including Diouf - or just by herself. Infants play quite a bit with their mothers as well, and it was something very special to see Tia and Aimee playing together when you think about the fact that the two were almost separated permanently, with Aimee probably spending her life in the zoo in Dakar.

But, it seems that both mother and daughter have recovered completely - at least physically - from the trauma of the dogs attacking Tia and Aimee, and Aimee's capture and 5 days in captivity (although the last few days were spent in the care of Johnny, which was surely much less stressful than the conditions he found her in). I can't look at either of them without thinking about what a miracle it was they the two were reunited. I also can't believe that I actually carried Aimee out to where the chimps were the day we were able to return her to Tia - as well as feeding her that morning.

Another nice scene below the Saba vines was Aimee playing with Mike - the adolescent male who retrieved her from where we set her down that day she was returned. Mike also carried Aimee for Tia that day and the next, when the group traveled at the end of the day and Tia could not keep up. At any rate, Tia and Aimee are even more special to us than they were before, and it will be a joy to follow Aimee as she grows up in the family she was born to. It was a great last day with the chimps before my 2-week absence from them!

Nightlife

One of the apparently unique behaviors exhibited by the chimps at Fongoli is a tendency to move around, forage and even travel extensively at night - especially during the dry season during a full moon. Last night I spent the night out with the chimps and, as usual, they didn't disappoint! They settled down around 7 or 7:30pm, when it got dark. Lupin, an adult male, actually made himself comfortable in Lucille's (adult female) nest, so she had to expand her side of it, and he eventually had to expand his side. Lucille's infant, Sounkaro, was also in the nest, but Lucille's juvenile son, Lex, had to make his own to the side. Still, a nice cozy scene.

It seemed like it was going to rain (Finally! The rains are about a month late.). I was wondering what in the world I would do since my camping gear consisted of a throw-away rain poncho and my regular day pack. It didn't rain though, and the chimps were quiet until about 11pm when the moon rose. There was some moving around, but they really started being active when the moon was at its brightest. At about 3:30 am, Tia, an adult female who is currently in estrus, built a new night nest not far from me. Awhile later, an adult male came to "visit" (i.e., copulate) and then built himself a new nest a few meters away from her.

About 4:45 am, the chimps got really active: There was plenty of social interaction, including male displays. Another male came to "visit" Tia. And, a number of individuals ate ripe Saba fruit, which is one of their most important food sources. Around 5:20 a.m., everyone rested until it got light, which is around 6 am these days. At this time, Dondo Kante arrived with James Ewen, the National Geographic cinematographer who is filming the chimps this year. The chimps rested for the next hour, and I left to go back to the village to get some rest and go to town on some errands (I really don't sleep much at night when I'm out with the chimps - between worrying a little about hyenas to waking up to write anything the chimps do at night).

So, our apparently lethargic chimps (according to a manuscript that Paco Bertolani and I have just submitted, Fongoli chimps rest significantly more than chimps elsewhere), are really just not studied enough at night. Something we'll have to include more of in the future!