Robbins Martha M. - Among the apes: stories and photos from Africa

Among African Apes

Edited by

Martha M. Robbins
and Christophe Boesch

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu .

University of California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

2011 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Among African apes : stories and photos from the field / edited by Martha M. Robbins and Christophe Boesch.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-520-26710-7 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. ApesAfricaAnecdotes. 2. ApesAfricaPictorial works. 3. ApesResearchAfricaAnecdotes. I. Robbins, Martha M., 1967 II. Boesch, Christophe.

Manufactured in the United States of America

20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Rolland Enviro100, a 100% post-consumer fiber paper that is FSC certified, deinked, processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with renewable biogas energy. It is acid-free and EcoLogo certified.

Martha M. Robbins

Martha M. Robbins

Christophe Boesch

3. Encounters with Bili Chimpanzees in
the Undisturbed Gangu Forest

Cleve Hicks

Gottfried Hohmann and Barbara Fruth

Christophe Boesch

Crickette Sanz and David Morgan

7. Keeping it in the Family:
Tribal Warfare between Chimpanzee Communities

Josephine Head

8. Winonas Search for the Right Silverback:
Insights into Female Strategies at a Natural
Rain Forest Clearing in Northern Congo

Thomas Breuer

9. The Long Road to Habituation:
A Window into the Lives of Gorillas

Chlo Cipolletta

Martha M. Robbins

Christophe Boesch

PLATES (following )

BOXES

The details of the chapters in this book are the result of an accumulation of decades of work at all the different field sites. Therefore, we first want to allow all the contributors to acknowledge the contributions of government agencies, donors, assistants, colleagues, and friends who helped make the work possible.

Christophe Boesch thanks the Ministre de la recherche scientifique as well as the Ministre des Eaux et Forts, the Direction de la Protection de la Nature, and the Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Rserves for permission to work in Ta National Park and for their constant and friendly support during the thirty years of the project, as well as the direction of the Ta National Park and the Swiss Centre for Scientific Research for supporting the Ta chimpanzee project. Christophe Boesch thanks many foundations and particularly the Swiss National Foundation and the Max Planck Society for constant financial support. The Ta chimpanzee project would neither have existed nor developed without the dedicated contributions of numerous students and field assistants during its thirty years of existence, and they are all thanked particularly warmly.

Gottfried Hohmann and Barbara Fruth thank the Ministre de lEducation nationale, Secrtariat gnral de la recherche scientifique et technologie, and the Institut congolais pour la conservation de la nature for granting permission to conduct research at Lomako and Salonga. The financial support from the Max Planck Society, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany, the Leakey Foundation, National Geographic Society, Volkswagen Foundation, and private donors is gratefully acknowledged. Sincere thanks go to the people from the villages of Ndele and Lompole, respectively, for their support and friendship, and to all those who have helped us do field research on bonobos in the Congo basin over the past twenty years.

Thomas Breuer and the Mbeli Bai Study are grateful to a variety of dedicated scientists who helped to initiate and expand the study, notably (ordered by date): Steve Blake and Mike Fay, Claudia Olejniczak, Yako Valentine, Richard Parnell, Dave Morgan, Tina Goody, Emma Stokes, Angela Nowell, Mireille Breuer-Ndoundou Hockemba, Lyndsay Gale, Vicki Fishlock, Ella Emeline Bamona, Joel Glick, Franck Barrell Mavinga, Julia Jenkins, Kelly Greenway, and Doreen Schulz. Thanks go to the Congolese Ministry of Sustainable Development, Forest Economy and Environment and the Department of Scientific Research and Technology for permission to work in the Nouabal-Ndoki National Park. Without the support of the Wildlife Conservation Society, especially all the personnel of the Nouabal-Ndoki Project, it would not have been possible to concentrate fully on the activities specific to the project. The Mbeli Bai Study is particularly grateful to the following donors: the Brevard Zoo, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Cleveland Metropark Zoo, Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, Houston Zoo, Margot Marsh Biodiversity Fund, National Geographic Society, Sea World & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, Toronto Zoo, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife Conservation Society, the Woodland Park Zoo, and several other zoos.

Cleve Hicks would like to thank the Ministre de lEnvironnement of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for granting him permission to work in the country, and Chief Zelesi Yakisi for acceptance into his collectivity. Thanks go to Steph Menken, Jan Sevink, Hans Breeuwer, and Peter Roessingh of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam for their continuous support of the research. Thanks as well to Christophe Boesch, Martha Robbins, Gottfried Hohmann, Hjalmar Khl, Genevive Campbell, Sandra Tranquilli, and the great team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology for providing invaluable assistance and feedback. The Wasmoeth Wildlife Foundation, the Lucie Burgers Foundation, the International Primate Protection League, and Karl Ammann provided the financial backing needed to carry out the research. Hans Wasmoeth, Sunny Kortz, Jan van Hooff, Laura Darby, Adam Singh, John and Terese Hart, Hans Breeuwer, Guido van Reenen, Wendy Atkins, Kisangola Polycarpe, Maurice Lilongo, Beth Taylor, Thurston and Kitty Hicks, and Vincent Nijman each made invaluable contributions. Ron Pontier and Dan Stears of Africa Inland Missions flew us into Bili. Finally, merci mingi to our skilled team of field assistants: Ligada Faustin, Chief Mbolibie of Baday, Olivier Esokeli, Seba Koya, Dido Makeima, Jean-Marie Masumbuko, Benoit Imasanga, Makassi, Likambo, Likongo, Garavura, and Kongonyesi.

Chlo Cipolletta would like to express her most sincere gratitude to the trackers of the Primate Habituation Program: their knowledge and skills were integral to the success of the program and their endless good humor allowed us to cope during the early, most difficult stages. Thank you again for all you taught me, singila mingi. I am grateful to Martha Robbins and Christophe Boesch for providing the opportunity to share Mlimas story in this book and especially to Martha, for kindly offering much needed editing support of the various versions of the manuscript. I was immensely fortunate to have met David Greer during my first year at Dzanga-Sangha: there is no question that I would not have stayed so long in the forest and kept my morale up and my motivation going if I had not had Davids support throughout. Many thanks to the Dzanga-Sangha Project staff and colleagues, and special thanks to the assistants, volunteers, and researchers who greatly contributed to the Primate Habituation Program and with whom I shared my life for nine beautiful years. Finally, I would like to thank my father for always encouraging me to follow my passion, for supporting me in hard times and for sharing this experience with me in the forest and in the heart: