Tonight from 18-21 (German time) we are having a small internal event here at the MPI-EVA but it will mean that there are some extra scientists on hand to answer any questions you may have or just have discussions with 😃 So if you've had any questions you've been wanting to ask, tonight would be a good time to post them 😃
gee...and I already thought that there's free beer tonight with all those people logged in 😄 😛
So let me right jump in at the opportunity (even without beer). Two questions from me:
Why do we so seldom see chimps climb? Is it hard to make out the trees they sleep on or are there other reasons?
I've read the sad fact that about 18 to 23 % of the chimp infants die. Is this true and are there regional differences you know about? Is there any knowledge about how fast females get pregnant again after an infant died?
Hi Boleyn,
For your first question, the reasons we don't see chimps climb very often probably has a lot to do a combination of camera placement and how chimps allocate their time and energy. Chimps typically climb up for feeding or nesting reasons, but the likelihood is pretty low that the camera is oriented toward either 1) a tree that happens to have ripe fruits or 2) a tree they would want to nest in. Occasionally there are some great climbing videos though. 😃 Regarding energy and time, climbing is very energetically demanding so they probably don't do more of it than needed. They spend much more of the day walking than climbing, so in accordance with that we should be more likely to capture walking than climbing on camera. A study found that adult males at one site walk about 2.4 km per day and climb about 100 m per day (Pontzer and Wrangham, 2004).
Regarding your second question, yes, you are right that infant mortality can be pretty high in chimpanzees. One study looked at mortality rates at five different chimpanzee study sites and found that the likelihood of surviving to age 5 varied between about 40% and around 75% depending on the site (Hill et al., 2001). Females can start cycling again pretty quickly after the death of an infant, and once they reach maximal tumescence they are again very attractive mates, so they can become pregnant again fairly quickly.
by
MimiA
scientist, moderator
by
Boleyn
moderator
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maureenmccarthy
scientist, moderator