Andrew Seguya

Wild Chimpanzees on the Edge: Nocturnal Activities in Croplands

In a rapidly changing landscape highly impacted by anthropogenic activities, the great apes are facing new challenges to coexist with humans. For chimpanzee communities inhabiting encroached territories, not bordered by rival conspecifics but by human agricultural fields, such boundaries are risky areas. To investigate the hypothesis that they use specific strategies for incursions out of the forest into maize fields to prevent the risk of detection by humans guarding their field, we carried out video recordings of chimpanzees at the edge of the forest bordered by a maize plantation in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Contrary to our expectations, large parties are engaged in crop-raids, including vulnerable individuals such as females with clinging infants. More surprisingly chimpanzees were crop-raiding during the night. They also stayed longer in the maize field and presented few signs of vigilance and anxiety during these nocturnal crop-raids. While nocturnal activities of chimpanzees have been reported during full moon periods, this is the first record of frequent and repeated nocturnal activities after twilight, in darkness. Habitat destruction may have promoted behavioural adjustments such as nocturnal exploitation of open croplands.

Chimpanzees facing a dangerous situation: A high-traffic asphalted road in the Sebitoli area of Kibale National Park, Uganda.

Despite the spread of road infrastructures throughout Africa to support regional development, industry, and tourism, few studies have examined how wild animals adapt their behavior and ecology in road‐forest ecotones. Indeed, while numerous studies have demonstrated chimpanzee adaptability in anthropogenic landscapes, none have examined the effects of asphalted highways on wild chimpanzee behaviors. In a 29‐month survey, we assessed the dangers posed by an asphalted road crossing the Sebitoli area of Kibale National Park (Uganda). We analyzed 122 individual chimpanzee crossings. Although the asphalted road represents a substantial threat to crossing animals (89 motorized vehicles per hour use this road and individuals of six different primate species were killed in 1 year), chimpanzees took into account this risk. More than 90% of the individuals looked right and left before and while crossing. Chimpanzees crossed in small subgroups (average 2.7 subgroups of 2.1 individuals per crossing event). Whole parties crossed more rapidly when chimpanzees were more numerous in the crossing groups. The individuals most vulnerable to the dangers of road crossing (females with dependents, immature, and severely injured individuals) crossed less frequently compared with non‐vulnerable individuals (lone and healthy adolescents and adults). Moreover, healthy adult males, who were the most frequent crossing individuals, led progressions more frequently when crossing the road than when climbing or descending feeding trees. Almost 20% of the individuals that crossed paid attention to conspecifics by checking on them or waiting for them while crossing. These observations are relevant for our understanding of adaptive behavior among chimpanzees in human‐impacted habitats. Further investigations are needed to better evaluate the effects of busy roads on adolescent female dispersal and on their use of territories. Mitigation measures (e.g., bridges, underpasses, reduced speed limits, speed‐bumps, signposts, or police controls) should be established in this area. Am. J. Primatol. 77:890–900, 2015.

Suitable Habitats for Endangered Frugivorous Mammals: Small-Scale Comparison, Regeneration Forest and Chimpanzee Density in Kibale National Park, Uganda

Landscape patterns and chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) densities in Kibale National Park show important variation among communities that are geographically close to one another (from 1.5 to 5.1 chimpanzees/km2). Anthropogenic activities inside the park (past logging activities, current encroachment) and outside its limits (food and cash crops) may impact the amount and distribution of food resources for chimpanzees (frugivorous species) and their spatial distribution within the park. Spatial and temporal patterns of fruit availability were recorded over 18 months at Sebitoli (a site of intermediate chimpanzee density and higher anthropic pressure) with the aim of understanding the factors explaining chimpanzee density there, in comparison to results from two other sites, also in Kibale: Kanyawara (low chimpanzee density) and Ngogo (high density, and furthest from Sebitoli). Because of the post-logging regenerating status of the forest in Sebitoli and Kanyawara, smaller basal area (BA) of fruiting trees most widely consumed by the chimpanzees in Kanyawara and Sebitoli was expected compared to Ngogo (not logged commercially). Due to the distance between sites, spatial and temporal fruit abundance in Sebitoli was expected to be more similar to Kanyawara than to Ngogo. While species functional classes consumed by Sebitoli chimpanzees (foods eaten during periods of high or low fruit abundance) differ from the two other sites, Sebitoli is very similar to Kanyawara in terms of land-cover and consumed species. Among feeding trees, Ficus species are particularly important resources for chimpanzees at Sebitoli, where their basal area is higher than at Kanywara or Ngogo. Ficus species provided a relatively consistent supply of food for chimpanzees throughout the year, and we suggest that this could help to explain the unusually high density of chimpanzees in such a disturbed site.

Nodular Worm Infections in Wild Non-human Primates and Humans Living in the Sebitoli Area (Kibale National Park, Uganda): Do High Spatial Proximity Favor Zoonotic Transmission?

Background Nodular Oesophagostomum genus nematodes are a major public health concern in some African regions because they can be lethal to humans. Their relatively high prevalence in people has been described in Uganda recently. While non-human primates also harbor Oesophagostomum spp., the epidemiology of this oesophagostomosis and the role of these animals as reservoirs of the infection in Eastern Africa are not yet well documented. Methodology/Principal Findings The present study aimed to investigate Oesophagostomum infection in terms of parasite species diversity, prevalence and load in three non-human primates (Pan troglodytes, Papio anubis, Colobus guereza) and humans living in close proximity in a forested area of Sebitoli, Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda. The molecular phylogenetic analyses provided the first evidence that humans living in the Sebitoli area harbored O. stephanostomum, a common species in free-ranging chimpanzees. Chimpanzees were also infected by O. bifurcum, a common species described in human populations throughout Africa. The recently described Oesophagostomum sp. found in colobine monkeys and humans and which was absent from baboons in the neighboring site of Kanyawara in KNP (10 km from Sebitoli), was only found in baboons. Microscopic analyses revealed that the infection prevalence and parasite load in chimpanzees were significantly lower in Kanyawara than in Sebitoli, an area more impacted by human activities at its borders. Conclusions/Significance Three different Oesophagostomum species circulate in humans and non-human primates in the Sebitoli area and our results confirm the presence of a new genotype of Oesophagostomum recently described in Uganda. The high spatiotemporal overlap between humans and chimpanzees in the studied area coupled with the high infection prevalence among chimpanzees represent factors that could increase the risk of transmission for O. stephanostomum between the two primate species. Finally, the importance of local-scale research for zoonosis risk management is important because environmental disturbance and species contact can differ, leading to different parasitological profiles between sites that are close together within the same forest patches.

Facial dysplasia in wild chimpanzees

At least 10% of the Sebitoli chimpanzee community of the Kibale National Park (Uganda) present a characteristic facial phenotype with flattened nose, reduced nostrils, and concave mid‐face. Affected individuals do not present skin lesions, and also young infants are affected. We suggest, therefore, a congenital origin of this defect.

Two cases of cleft lip and other congenital anomalies in wild chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park, Uganda

Design Observations of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) were conducted in Kibale National Park, Uganda, at the sites of Sebitoli and Ngogo. Results We report the first two cases of cleft lip in wild chimpanzees. Additionally, some other chimpanzees in the Sebitoli community show facial dysplasia and congenital anomalies, such as patches of depigmented hairs and limb defects. Conclusions Cleft lip has been documented in several species of nonhuman primates, but much remains unknown about the occurrence of cleft lip and cleft palate in great apes, probably because such malformations are rare, wild apes are difficult to monitor and observe, and severe cases associated with cleft palates render suckling impossible and lead to early death of infants. The genetic basis of such defects in great apes warrants investigation, as does the possibility that environmental toxins contribute to their etiology in Kibale in ways that could affect humans as well.

Feeding Consequences of Hand and Foot Disability in Wild Adult Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii )

Many wild primates experience long-term limb disability, and their ability to cope with disability has implications for survival and fitness. We quantified the arboreal feeding and postural behaviors of adult chimpanzees to study the consequences of physical limb disabilities. We collected behavioral data for a total of 8 mo on chimpanzees at Sebitoli, Kibale National Park, Uganda, focusing on the time spent feeding, common feeding tree species, body postures, and substrate use. Of the 51 chimpanzees we observed, 16 (31%) exhibited limb anomalies, which varied in form and severity. Disabled chimpanzees climbed as high as chimpanzees without disabilities and did not differ from nondisabled chimpanzees in the amount they used feeding tree species. Adult chimpanzees with severe hand disability spent significantly more time feeding than nondisabled individuals. In addition, manually disabled adults did not suspend themselves from branches during feeding as frequently as nondisabled adults and used larger substrates for gripping and sitting than nondisabled adults. These results indicate that disabled individuals compensate to carry out feeding activities in trees.

Dysplasie faciale chez les chimpanzés sauvages de Sebitoli, Parc national de Kibale, Ouganda : la pollution environnementale en cause ?

Les deformations des membres sont frequentes chez les primates. La plupart resultent de piegeage, de chutes ou de conflits. Les malformations d’origine congenitale sont generalement beaucoup plus rares, atteignant a peine 1% des populations de primates humains et non humains. Cependant, certains groupes de macaques au Japon et a Hong Kong sont severement affectes par des anomalies des membres. Jusqu’a 17% des individus sont atteints dans certaines troupes vivant en liberte mais approvisionnes en nourriture. Au contraire, les malformations faciales d’origine congenitale sont rarement decrites chez les primates sauvages non humains. Seules des lesions faciales d’origine bacterienne, de type pian, sont rencontrees avec une forte prevalence dans certaines populations de grands singes. Dans le parc national de Kibale, en Ouganda, notre travail d’habituation dans la zone nord de Sebitoli nous a permis d’observer des phenotypes faciaux singuliers. Huit des 80 chimpanzes (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) presentent un nez aplati avec des narines reduites ou absentes et une face concave, sans qu’aucune lesion de la peau ne soit visible. Parmi les individus atteints, on trouve des mâles et des femelles, âges de 18 mois a 18 ans. Les caracteristiques faciales observees chez les chimpanzes evoquent le syndrome de Binder decrit chez les humains. Ce syndrome resulte d’une perturbation de la formation des structures nasales pendant l’embryogenese. Des agents anti-vitamine K, ingeres par la mere, sont invoques dans certains cas. L’etiologie des malformations congenitales des membres chez les macaques serait selon certains auteurs en relation avec la presence de pesticides presents dans les aliments donnes aux singes. A Sebitoli, plusieurs causes peuvent etre suspectees. Dans les annees 70, les exploitants forestiers ont utilise des arboricides defoliants dans cette zone. Aujourd’hui, le territoire de la communaute de chimpanzes est entoure de plantation de the, de mais et de jardins vivriers dont les traitements par intrants chimiques peuvent contaminer l’environnement dont l’eau et le sol. Les chimpanzes sont exposes a la pollution du sol car ils pratiquent regulierement la geophagie. Par ailleurs, ils pillent parfois les plantations de mais des villageois, ingerant les epis et les tiges. Enfin, ils sont aussi exposes aux particules de combustion des carburants des vehicules circulant sur la route nationale a fort trafic qui coupe leur territoire. La pollution environnementale pourrait donc etre en lien avec les malformations observees dans cette communaute. Outre le braconnage et les maladies infectieuses, les risques induits par la pollution de l’habitat font partie des consequences sanitaires de l’anthropisation du milieu qui ne doivent pas etre negligees pour la preservation des grands singes.

PROXIMITÉS GÉOGRAPHIQUES ET PHYLOGÉNÉTIQUES ENTRE LES CHIMPANZÉS ET LES HUMAINS ET CONSÉQUENCES SANITAIRES. EXEMPLE DU PARC NATIONAL DE KIBALE EN OUGANDA

Le Chimpanze, espece vivante la plus proche phylogenetiquement de l’homme, est aujourd’hui menacee de disparition en particulier par la fragmentation des forets tropicales. Afin d’evaluer les risques pour les deux especes de cette proximite spatiale en potentielle augmentation, notre objectif est d’etudier si les chimpanzes evitent les interfaces et si leur sante temoignent de ces eventuels contacts. Quinze annees de recherche sur deux communautes de chimpanzes sauvages du parc national de Kibale (Ouganda) montrent que les chimpanzes n’evitent pas les lisieres, traversent une route a fort trafic et que les activites humaines en foret sont frequentes. Nos observations revelent des consequences severes sur leur sante: mutilations dues au braconnage et detection d’agents pathogenes similaires, impliquant probablement des transmissions interspecifiques. Dans un contexte ou les maladies emergentes peuvent entrainer des consequences fatales sur la sante des hommes et des chimpanzes, il est primordial d’approfondir ces travaux pour la sante publique et la conservation