Tacugama

Category: Tacugama | Date: Apr 19 2009 | By: tacugama

Counting chimpanzees across an entire country is a complicated task. Because it is realistically impossible to count every single chimpanzee, some sort of estimate must be made. Chimpanzees may occur in many different habitat types and we are using several different methods, each one according to the type of habitat to be surveyed.

Chimpanzees are difficult to see in the wild so we look for their signs. Signs can include direct sightings, feeding remains, dung, or nests. Nests are the most commonly observed signs. Chimpanzees create a new nest each night to sleep in by bending branches into a solid bowl up in a tree. These can remain visible for up to several months.

Jido demonstrates his nest at Tacugama - it’s not so easy to spot in the wild!
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Spotting a wild nest from below (it’s the darker spot in the centre of the picture)
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In larger forested areas, we will search for chimpanzee signs while walking a series of straight lines (called transects) through the forest. Using transects to ‘sample’ the forest allows us to estimate chimpanzee numbers across the whole forest.

Walking a transect

In areas where human impacts are higher, and patches of forest smaller, we will use a simpler method of reconnaissance, or recce, walks. This involves walking through selected areas on a path and recording the number of chimpanzee signs seen.

Some parts of the country may have heavy human impact through hunting, farming or mining, but still contain small chimpanzee communities in small patches of forest or even abandoned farmland. This type of habitat may actually be much more common than intact forest, and may hold an important part of the total chimpanzee population in Sierra Leone. In this habitat we will interview local communities about their encounters with chimpanzees or chimpanzee signs and ask them to show us where they have seen such signs. This will give us some information about whether or not chimpanzees are there, and if they are there, how many groups may be present.

Looking at signs

All of this information from the different methods will be pulled together and used to estimate the number of chimpanzees currently in Sierra Leone. As well as recording data directly related to chimpanzees the team will also be recording evidence of other animal species seen and the extent and impact of human encroachment.