The trust built between them will help Pepe grow up under a healthy context of sociality. An intimate moment between Pepe and his caregiver Michelle after they were playing for almost an hour in the forest. Michelle, his caregiver, feeds him before their time together in the forest. Pepe is a baby chimpanzee whose diet is still milk-based. Nearly half of western chimpanzees live within 5km of a human settlement or a road, and remoteness will continue to dwindle if urgent measures to control anthropogenic pressure are not implemented. Chimpanzees living in forest-farm mosaics often rely on crops and fruit orchards to compensate for the loss of their natural food resources, which frequently results in retaliatory killings and orphaned chimpanzees as a byproduct,” she says. “This is an unfortunate byproduct of the rapid conversion of natural chimpanzee habitat for human activities. Although traditional (and correct) beliefs of kinship have historically helped chimpanzee conservation in some areas of Guinea, poaching to sell the babies as pets and adults as bushmeat is becoming one of the most severe problems for their conservation. Deforestation and habitat fragmentation caused by large-scale development projects (such as mines and their associated infrastructures), as well as the expansion of subsistence agriculture (due to increased demographic growth and soil infertility), are gradually taking chimpanzee territory,” says Tatyana Humle, the board chair of the CCC. “Guinea is rich in mineral resources such as bauxite (used in electronic devices), and this sector is expanding rapidly. This is why ensuring social interactions when rehabilitating chimpanzees becomes a cornerstone for a potential future release into the wild. Many of the unique behaviours found in western chimpanzees could be culturally transmitted through social learning. Importantly, more than 80% of chimpanzees in Guinea are found outside protected areas, so that remoteness and inaccessibility are the main factors ensuring the viability of wild populations. Guinea harbours more than 60% of the remnant population. According to the western chimpanzee conservation action plan 2020-30, 10,000-52,000 wild chimpanzees are thought to remain in west Africa, with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone being the strongholds of the subspecies. After reports of unprecedented decline, in 2016 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the western chimpanzee’s threat status from endangered (the status of every other subspecies) to critically endangered. Researchers are understandably excited by the prospect of understanding this rich cultural diversity, though sadly they are under considerable time pressure. Social bonds among youngsters are a must to establish the roles and hierarchies of each individual in the group. Houmou plays with one of his orphan brothers during a walk in the forest. Many of these behaviours could be culturally transmitted through social learning across generations. Some communities of this subspecies have been shown to manufacture wooden spears to hunt down other primates, crack nuts open by balancing them on a root and pounding them with a stone, soak themselves and play in water to cool down on hot days, travel and forage at night, and regularly gather in caves to socialise and sleep. There are four recognised subspecies of chimpanzees, among which western chimpanzees stand out for their many unique behaviours. In 2003, a population of 170,000-300,000 wild individuals was estimated across a highly discontinuous distribution covering 1m sq miles (2.6m sq km). Once common throughout equatorial Africa, chimpanzees have disappeared from most of their historic range. Here, Antoine is playing with one of the orphans before they start their daily walk through the forest. They play a crucial role in fostering social bonds of chimpanzees. Caregivers are essential to baby chimps’ education.
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