Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”

2015. 09, 13
Affiliation/Position

Primate Research Institute/D1

Name

Cecile Sarabian

1. Country/location of visit
Uganda/Kalinzu Forest, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary
2. Research project
Field school, investigation for research collaboration
3. Date (departing from/returning to Japan)
2015. 08. 16 – 2015. 08. 31 (16 days)
4. Main host researcher and affiliation
Dr. Chie Hashimoto, Assistant Professor at Kyoto University Primate Research Institute
5. Progress and results of your activity

This field school was part of the Asia-Africa
Science Platform Program, now called Core-to-Core
Program, supported by the Japan Society for thePromotion of Science. The goal is to develop
partnership and knowledge exchange between
researchers/students from institutions in Asia andAfrica. On this Uganda Primatology and Wildlife
Science training program were two Congolese
students from Kinshasa University, one Ugandan
student from Makerere University and two Japanese
students plus me from Kyoto University. None of us
knew each other before. However, for the next
couple of weeks, we would share “matoke” (mashedunripe bananas) morning, noon, and evening…
Matoke is what rice is for Japanese or what bread is for
FrenchKalinzu
Among diverse other primate species, Uganda has 2of the great apes: the endangered chimpanzee,
subspecies schweinfurthii and the criticallyendangered eastern gorilla, subspecies beringei.
Uganda is also one of the countries that host the mostlong-term field sites for the study of primates.
Kalinzu is among the young ones. In 1992, Dr. Chie
Hashimoto started a chimpanzee population census in
the forest by counting nests along line-transects.
Twenty-three years later and numerous scientificpapers published, the project is still running. So, there
we went to spend a week with Dr. Hashimoto andother students. During this short amount of time, we
had to decide of a small research project for which wepresented the results at a private seminar on our last
evening on site. As it was hard to identify and follow
consistently chimpanzees within a week, I chose arather easy project: terrestriality versus arboreality in
Kalinzu chimpanzees.
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Visited parts in Uganda
2014.05.27 versionResearch Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”
Kalinzu is a young secondary forest of 137 km2 dominated by Musanga, Parinari and Ficus treespecies. The forest mainly served for timber extraction until 2000 and hosts 6 species of diurnal
primates: Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, Cercopithecus ascanius, Cercopithecus mitis,Cercopithecus lhoesti, Colobus guereza, Papio anubis. The forest counts about 230 chimpanzees
distributed in 4 groups. The habituated group is named M group and counts about 100 individuals.
For my study, I conducted 30-minute instantaneous sampling opportunistically on 21 individuals (13adults; 7 adolescents; and 1 infant; 4 females; 17 males), recording the action and the substrate ofindividuals on sight every 5 minutes. I observed a strong preference for arboreality among mysubjects during a 4-days period (substrate: tree 80% versus ground 19%). Then, when testing which
factors associate with arboreality, neither sex, age category nor time was associated (GLMM,p>0.05). If we dismiss the hypotheses that results have been influenced by the facts that the studywas mainly conducted in the morning; that I had not enough data; or that the group is not very wellhabituated, then results might confirm the hypothesis that chimpanzees adjust their substrate use
according to microclimate (i.e. more arboreal in cool or humid months; Takemoto 2003).
Over this week, we were also lucky to attend 2 hunting attempts of the chimpanzees toward theblack-and-white colobuses. As Kalinzu doesn’t have red colobuses (the main prey for chimpanzees
in other field sites), chimpanzees here hunt black-and-white colobuses. However, few attempts are
successful and those, which are, are rather opportunistic.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
After Kalinzu, we went for two days to Queen Elizabeth national park, the most visited nationalpark among the ten that Uganda has. The park is famous for its climbing tree lions. On this trip wewere lucky to spot: warthogs, elephants (I counted 85 in 2 hours!), baboons, hippos, Nile crocodiles,buffaloes, waterbucks, Ugandan kobs, zebras, black-and-yawhite king fishers, marabou storks, andcormorants among many others! On our way out to QENP, we also stopped by Kyambura gorge, asurprising rain forest gorge in the middle of the savannah. Moreover, there are chimpanzees inKyambura…
Makerere University
As part of the program, we also had theopportunity to visit the largest university ofUganda, Makerere University, and its
primatologists.

Viviane (undergraduate student from DRC and futureleading primatologist of her country) posing in front of themain building at Makerere
Kyambura gorge
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Kalinzu

Top: The Lion King scenery at sunrise in Kalinzu forest camp; bottom: nesting tree for weaver birds (male Vieillot’s blackweaver at top right) in the middle of the camp
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From left to right and top to bottom: Dr. Ihobe observing the black-and-white colobuses; red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecusascanius); black-and-white colobuses (Colobus guereza); caterpillar eaten by chimpanzees
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Chimpanzee foraging in a Ficus sur in Kalinzu forest

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Top: Matoke workshop in Kayanga village; bottom: presentation of “How to become a scatologist?” at Kalinzu Forest
Education Center (Who knows? We might inspire one of them…)
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From Top to bottom and left to right: view on Queen Elizabeth National Park from our lodge; warthog; Ugandan kobs; Nilecrocodiles and buffaloes; gathering of birds (marabou storks, cormorants, pelicans, African sacred ibis, yellow billed storks);
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Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 Top: Feeding time at Ngamba island chimpanzee sanctuary; bottom: monitor lizard on Ngamba island
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Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 Chimpanzees present for feeding at Ngamba island chimpanzee sanctuary	 

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Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 Kids waiting for their mom to come back on Koome island (one of the neighbouring island of Ngamba)

Ngamba island chimpanzee sanctuaryI met Lilly Ajarova, director of the Chimpanzee Trust (NGO working on all aspects of thechimpanzee sanctuary at Ngamba island) at the annual PWS symposium last March in Kyoto. WhenI knew I was going to Uganda, I contacted her. She arranged my visit so, that I could spend twonights at Ngamba, meet the wonderful staff, the 48 chimps, and the veterinarian of Chimfunshi
chimpanzee sanctuary in Zambia, who was here as part of an exchange program between the twosanctuaries. I was lucky to get the opportunity to introduce my research interests by giving aseminar to the staff, all very interested in hygiene in non-humans and asking many questions. Icould also visit some of the humanitarian projects that Ngamba runs with the fishing communities
living in the neighbouring islands (some of those communities were living on Ngamba island before
the creation of the sanctuary). On Koome island, the Chimpanzee Trust managed to get clean water
for the people, and helped to establish toilets, school, and hospital facilities. They also engage insome fair trade projects with the women of the communities, who make some crafts sold at thesanctuary and at their office in Entebbe. I also went to Ngamba for potential research collaboration,
and a project is hopefully on the way. If you want to learn more about Ngamba island chimpanzee
sanctuary, stay tunned with The PrimateCast, a podcast of my visit to Ngamba should come out
soon: http://www.cicasp.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/news.
Mwebare mununga: Dr. Hashimoto and Dr. Ihobe for supervising Kalinzu and QENP; Natsumiand Hodaka for receiving us in Kalinzu; Lilly Ajarova and the Chimpanzee Trust staff fororganizing my venue at Ngamba and for sharing their passion for Conservation; the students forsharing great moments; and PWS for supporting me in this program.	 
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2014.05.27 version