Home range size in central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) from Loango National Park, Gabon

Abstract

Ranging behavior has been studied extensively in eastern (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and western (P. t. verus) chimpanzees, but relatively little is known regarding home ranges of the other two subspecies (P. t. ellioti; P. t. troglodytes). In this study, we determined the home range size and space use of a habituated community (Rekambo) of central chimpanzees living in a habitat mosaic in Loango National Park, Gabon. Data on travel routes were collected during follows between January 2017 and April 2019 (N = 670,616 relocations, collected over 640 days and 5690 h of observation). We used three methods for calculating home range size (minimum convex polygon, kernel density estimation, and biased random bridges). We compare our estimates to those obtained from prior genetic and camera trap studies of the Rekambo community and contrast them with estimates from other chimpanzee communities of the four chimpanzee subspecies. Depending on the methodology used, the home range size of the Rekambo community ranged between 27.64 and 59.03 km2. The location of the center of the home range remained relatively stable over the last decade, while the overall size decreased. The Rekambo home range is, therefore, one of the largest documented so far for chimpanzees outside savannah-woodland habitats. We discuss several explanations, including the presence of savannah, interspecies competition, and intercommunity interactions.

Golden‐bellied mangabeys (Cercocebus chrysogaster) exhibit a larger home range and longer travel distances than those of bonobos (Pan paniscus) at LuiKotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo

“…The size of M2 golden‐bellied mangabey group was consistent with medium to large group sizes reported for other Cercocebus species (e.g., averaging 60–90 individuals for red‐capped mangabeys, C. torquatus , Sanje mangabeys, C. sanjei , and sooty mangabeys, C. atys —Table 5). Even relatively large groups of Cercocebus mangabeys typically exhibit smaller ranges and travel shorter distances than sympatric apes (e.g., red‐capped mangabeys and sooty mangabeys, C. atys vs. chimpanzees—Lehmann & Boesch, 2003; Martínez‐Íñigo et al, 2021; agile mangabeys versus western lowland gorillas—Remis, 1997). For M2 mangabey group, however, the per capita home range (0.33–0.42 km 2 ) was similar or slightly smaller than that of the largest bonobo community at LuiKotale and bonobos observed for 6–24 months at other sites (Table 6).…”

“…For kernel density estimates, we calculated the 50%, 75%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 98%, 99%, and 100% isopleths based on a grid of 250 × 250 m cells. We calculated the area under the curve for each kernel density estimate, which provides a goodness of fit measure that reflects how closely the estimate matches the observed GPS coordinates (scale: 0–1, with numbers closer to 1 indicating better fits; following Martínez‐Íñigo et al, 2021).…”

Human-Borne Pathogens: Are They Threatening Wild Great Ape Populations?

“…mdpi.com/article/10.3390/vetsci9070356/s1. Table S1: Estimated size of current great ape populations globally [122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136]. Funding: This research received no external funding.…”

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: . Table S1: Estimated size of current great ape populations globally [ 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 ].…”

Morphological variation of the Pan talus relative to that of Gorilla

“…P. t. troglodytes is found in the Congo Basin and ranges from southern Cameroon to the Ubangi River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum recorded elevation of 742 m (Gonder, 2000; Sesink Clee et al, 2015; Williamson et al, 2013). P. t. troglodytes has been recently studied in the Nouabalé‐Ndoki National Park in the Republic of the Congo in a continuous forest, as well as the Loango National Park in Gabon which ranges in habitats including savannahs, forests, mangroves, and swamps (Boesch et al, 2007; Martínez‐Íñigo et al, 2021; Morgan et al, 2006). P. t. schweinfurthii ranges from the Ubangi River to the western Rift Valley with a maximum altitude of 2790 m (Gonder, 2000; Humle et al, 2016; Sesink Clee et al, 2015; Williamson et al, 2013).…”