Stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in Uganda’s Budongo-Bugoma corridor: preliminary observations from Kasongoire

Chimpanzees are well-known tool users, with differences reported in the tool use repertoires among communities and subspecies. Chimpanzees at most study sites exhibit some degree of stick tool use behaviour for extractive foraging, with the exception of eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfu...

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Main Authors: Aimee Oxley, Balinda Kiiza Jovan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société Francophone de Primatologie 2020-07-01
Series:Revue de Primatologie
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/6426
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author Aimee Oxley
Balinda Kiiza Jovan
author_facet Aimee Oxley
Balinda Kiiza Jovan
author_sort Aimee Oxley
collection DOAJ
description Chimpanzees are well-known tool users, with differences reported in the tool use repertoires among communities and subspecies. Chimpanzees at most study sites exhibit some degree of stick tool use behaviour for extractive foraging, with the exception of eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) inhabiting Budongo Forest in western Uganda. Chimpanzees there have never been observed using stick tools despite being studied for decades, although, more recently, probing and digging tool use has been documented in neighbouring forest fragments. Here, I report preliminary observations of immature chimpanzees using stick tools as probes in a foraging context in Kasongoire, a newly studied community in the unprotected forest fragments outside Budongo Forest. The behaviour appears to be rare and insect prey seems not to have been actually ingested, but the observations provide further evidence of probing stick tool use by chimpanzees only 15 km from the main forest block. Differences in tool use have been previously reported between neighbouring communities of chimpanzees. Considering the complete absence of stick tool use in Budongo Forest, the increasing evidence that it is present in such close geographical proximity poses questions about the transfer of cultural knowledge between individuals and communities.
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spelling doaj-art-822084e48cce490086bb223933e9ec102025-01-30T10:02:18ZengSociété Francophone de PrimatologieRevue de Primatologie2077-37572020-07-011010.4000/primatologie.6426Stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in Uganda’s Budongo-Bugoma corridor: preliminary observations from KasongoireAimee OxleyBalinda Kiiza JovanChimpanzees are well-known tool users, with differences reported in the tool use repertoires among communities and subspecies. Chimpanzees at most study sites exhibit some degree of stick tool use behaviour for extractive foraging, with the exception of eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) inhabiting Budongo Forest in western Uganda. Chimpanzees there have never been observed using stick tools despite being studied for decades, although, more recently, probing and digging tool use has been documented in neighbouring forest fragments. Here, I report preliminary observations of immature chimpanzees using stick tools as probes in a foraging context in Kasongoire, a newly studied community in the unprotected forest fragments outside Budongo Forest. The behaviour appears to be rare and insect prey seems not to have been actually ingested, but the observations provide further evidence of probing stick tool use by chimpanzees only 15 km from the main forest block. Differences in tool use have been previously reported between neighbouring communities of chimpanzees. Considering the complete absence of stick tool use in Budongo Forest, the increasing evidence that it is present in such close geographical proximity poses questions about the transfer of cultural knowledge between individuals and communities.https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/6426extractive foragingPan troglodytes schweinfurthiiimmaturefragmented forest
spellingShingle Aimee Oxley
Balinda Kiiza Jovan
Stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in Uganda’s Budongo-Bugoma corridor: preliminary observations from Kasongoire
Revue de Primatologie
extractive foraging
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
immature
fragmented forest
title Stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in Uganda’s Budongo-Bugoma corridor: preliminary observations from Kasongoire
title_full Stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in Uganda’s Budongo-Bugoma corridor: preliminary observations from Kasongoire
title_fullStr Stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in Uganda’s Budongo-Bugoma corridor: preliminary observations from Kasongoire
title_full_unstemmed Stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in Uganda’s Budongo-Bugoma corridor: preliminary observations from Kasongoire
title_short Stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in Uganda’s Budongo-Bugoma corridor: preliminary observations from Kasongoire
title_sort stick tool use by chimpanzees in a forest fragment in uganda s budongo bugoma corridor preliminary observations from kasongoire
topic extractive foraging
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
immature
fragmented forest
url https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/6426
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AT balindakiizajovan sticktoolusebychimpanzeesinaforestfragmentinugandasbudongobugomacorridorpreliminaryobservationsfromkasongoire