Local knowledge and perceptions of chimpanzees in Cantanhez National Park, Guinea‐Bissau

Abstract

Our study concerns local knowledge and perceptions of chimpanzees among farming communities within Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau. We submitted a survey questionnaire to 100 people living in four villages in the Park to enquire about their knowledge of chimpanzee ecology and human-chimpanzee interactions. Local farmers live in close contact with chimpanzees, consider them to be more similar to humans than any other species, and attribute special importance to them primarily due to expectations of tourism revenue. Interviewees' responses, as a function of gender, village, and age, were analyzed statistically using non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis). Age influenced responses significantly, while gender and village had no significant effect. Youngsters emphasized morphological aspects of human-chimpanzee similarities, while adults emphasized chimpanzee behavior and narratives about the shared history of humans and chimpanzees. Tourism, conservation, and crop raiding feature prominently in people's reports about chimpanzees. Local people's engagement with conservation and tourism-related activities is likely to allow them to manage not only the costs but also the benefits of conservation, and can in turn inform the expectations built upon tourism.

Local Ecological Knowledge about Endangered Primates in a Rural Community in Paraíba, Brazil

“…This result does not corroborate our prediction that elderly individuals have a higher LEK. This finding is also contrary to the results published in the literature [Sousa, 2010;Oliveira, 2011;Sousa et al, 2014;Melo et al, 2014]. According to the respondents, it is necessary to travel to the reserve to see blonde capuchins or to hear red-handed howler monkeys.…”

Chimpanzees, sorcery and contestation in a protected area in Guinea-Bissau

“…In the early 2000s, a tourism project was launched by a local NGO and the chimpanzee became firmly associated with the park, both for tourists and for local people. By 2007, ‘chimpanzee tourism’ had already raised considerable expectations among local people regarding the economic advantages that would supposedly flow into the area (Sousa et al ). In 2010 and 2011, tour guides were paid by tourists visiting the forests to observe chimpanzees.…”

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Diet Composition and Food Availability in a Human-Modified Landscape at Lagoas de Cufada Natural Park, Guinea-Bissau

“…In LCNP, agricultural areas could provide food supplement, but chimpanzees always included wild plant foods in their diet (Duvall 2008;Hockings et al 2009;McLennan 2013;Nishida and Shigeo 1983;Sabater-Pí 1979;Sousa et al 2013;Tutin and Fernandez 1985). Cultivated species were harder to identify in fecal samples than in feeding remains because the consumption of most cultivated species often results in seedless fruit pulp, e.g., extracting juice from cashew fruits.…”

“…We relied on local knowledge in our study when implementing the phenological surveys (Sousa et al 2013), and about half of the species matched with those species identified in fecal samples. Park guards and residents mentioned that chimpanzees in the dry season come closer to agricultural fields and cashew plantations than in the wet season.…”