Chimps and Predators

• by ChimpAndSee

  Hi, everyone!
  I am going through videos on the Chimp and See website, as well as video clips that have been posted by fellow observers, to study the interaction between chimps and their predators, specifically chimp behaviors. I have been unsuccessful in finding video clips where a chimp and its predator(s) are in the same area at the same time. I have been able to find video clips of chimps and their predators separately. It makes me think that the chimps and their predators can somehow sense when a predator is around and will not go into that area. However, I am still interested in seeing if this is true with video proof. Has anyone been able to find a video with the two interacting with each other or in the same video clip?
  I look forward to hearing what you all have to say. I think this is a very interesting concept to study if video clips can be found.

  Posted January 5, 2016 12:17 AM

• by ksigler moderator in response to ChimpAndSee's comment.

  There is only one incident that comes to mind where a chimp and leopard were clearly in the same area at the same time (a few minutes apart). Discussion here: http://talk.chimpandsee.org/#/boards/BCP000000j/discussions/DCP00005sm

  Posted January 5, 2016 1:52 AM

• by ChimpAndSee

  Thank you so much for your help! This will definitely help me with my research. It might turn out that the chimps and predators do not interact, or go near, each other at all. I look forward to look more into this to see if that is the case. Thanks again!

  Posted January 6, 2016 10:53 PM

• by Snorticus

  Good memory, ksigler. We rarely see chimps in the same clip with any other species at all. This series of clips with both chimps and guinea baboons present sparked a discussion for that reason: http://talk.chimpandsee.org/#/boards/BCP0000002/discussions/DCP0000jrr

  Posted January 7, 2016 12:36 AM

• by ChimpAndSee

  Thank you both for your help with this. The points mentioned in the conversation provided are very interesting. The various behaviors that the chimps and predators exhibit seemed to be for protection and awareness. I will definitely look into this discussion and analyze it for my specific project. Thanks again!

  Posted January 11, 2016 5:15 PM

• by AnLand moderator

  There is an interesting article by Carl Zimmer about a research paper on toxoplasma gondii and chimps that suggests that chimps infected with this quite common parasite (in humans) might attract them to their predators (OK, they sniffed more often on leopard urine than on human urine) - and that make them less wary of an imminent danger (that would be a conclusion, I guess, not actual data). The parasite is known to modify e.g. olfactory preferences (what an animal likes to smell) to secure its own transmission to a prefered host (a feline).

  I cannot access the research paper myself, but the newspaper article is interesting on its own (toxoplasmosis or not) with the discussion @ksigler linked above (with my favorite chimp Linda who is clearly alarmed by the leopard smell) and also with these alarmed sniffing videos (probably Arevig's mom) where we know that the field team was here before ACP0003qpz and ACP0003qq2 (and discussion: http://talk.chimpandsee.org/#/boards/BCP000000j/discussions/DCP0000724)

  EDIT: After reading the paper, one more interesting point: the chimps only investigated leopard urine longer, not "control" urine from other big cats, like tigers and lions, that are not natural predators for chimps.

  Posted February 11, 2016 7:32 PM

• by Snorticus

  Wow, that is some amazingly specific survival strategy on the part of that parasite, you'd almost think it had a big brain!

  Posted February 20, 2016 10:24 PM