Choice of Sleeping Sites by Chimpanzees in Savanna Woodlands, Western Tanzania

  We studied sleeping sites used by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in savanna woodland areas of Tanzania outside national parks in Tanzania from 1994 to 2011. We walked 1,043 km of census lines and recorded 479 beds in 193 clusters within 30 m from the census line. We prepared vegetation and topological maps using satellite and global information system data. We divided the census lines into 60 m square quadrates. One or more chimpanzee beds occurred in 154 quadrates, and no beds occurred in the remaining 16,597 quadrates. Evergreen forests occupied more area (mean 25.4%) in the quadrates with beds than in those without beds (5.5%). The ground slope was steeper in the quadrates with beds (10.5°) than those with no beds (6.0°). A GLM showed that evergreen forests and slope affected the choice of sleeping sites. Chimpanzees made few beds in woodlands during the dry season simply because most woodland trees were defoliated. Bed distribution during the rainy season also showed that evergreen forests were included in more areas (mean 28.2%) in the 41 quadrates with beds than in the other 2,297 quadrates with no beds (5.1%). Lions (Panthera leo) and leopards (Panthera pardus) inhabit chimpanzee habitats in Tanzania. Chimpanzees might sleep in forests to reduce the predation risk by such carnivores, because distances among trees was shorter and tree height higher than those in woodlands, and there was less grass in forests for carnivores to hide and hunt. Chimpanzees might sleep in hilly areas, because water is close to the bottom of the slope, and the carnivores might have difficulty chasing chimpanzees up the slope. Predation risk as well as the distribution of food trees and availability of sleeping trees might affect the choice of sleeping sites by chimpanzees in the savanna woodlands.

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/psj/28/1/28_28.002/_pdf/-char/ja

 

 

 

Diet of Savanna Chimpanzees in the Ugalla Area, Tanzania

  We studied the diet of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Ugalla savanna woodland area of western Tanzania. This area is the most eastern habitat and one of the driest and most open habitats of chimpanzees. Field surveys were conducted mainly at the Nguye and Bhukalai sites in Ugalla from 1995 to 2011, during which we collected 465 feces of chimpanzees. From the discernable components of the Ugalla chimpanzees’ diet in the fecal samples we collected and recorded, we compared the diet of these chimpanzees with that of chimpanzees in wet habitats, especially Mahale and Gombe in Tanzania, in the literature. Chimpanzees in Ugalla had eaten 117 plant parts of 100 plant species, 1 bird species, at least 1 small mammal species, and at least 3 insect species, including termites and ants. These chimpanzees in Ugalla ate fewer plant species and plant parts, more underground storage organs of plants, and fewer vertebrates and invertebrates than did the chimpanzees in Mahale and Gombe.

http://jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kiroku/asm_normal/abstracts/pdf/36-3/3.yoshikawa.pdf

 

CURRICULUM VITAE

 

Midori Yoshikawa, PhD

 

Institutional Affiliation

Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science. 

 

Education 

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Ecology and Anthropology

Thesis: "Feeding Ecology and Sleeping Site Selection of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)" 

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (Tokyo, Japan)

 

Secondary affiliation for doctoral studies:

Special research student 

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan)

  

Master of Science

Ecology and Wild Animal Conservation  

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (Tokyo, Japan)

 

Bachelor of Science  

Biology

Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University (Tokyo, Japan)

 

Work Experience

Research Assistant  (current position)

Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science (Tsukaba / Tokyo, Japan)

 

Postdoctoral Researcher  

Collaboration Center for Research & Development, Utsunomiya University (Utsunomiya, Japan)

  

Research Fellow

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo, Japan)

 

Researcher

Great Ape Research Institute, Hayashibara Biomedical Laboratories, Inc. (Okuyama, Japan)

  

Awards, Honors, and Scholarships

Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University scholarship

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology scholarship

 

Acquired Research Funds

Research Grant: Takehiko Yamashina Grant Program

Granting Institution: Yamashina Institute for Ornithology

 

Research Grant: Advanced Studies: Primate Origins of Human Evolution

Granting Institution: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

 

Research Grant: ITP-HOPE: International Training Program for Young Researchers: Primate Origins of Human Evolution

Granting Institution: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

 

Research Grant: Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow

Granting Institution: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

  

Society Memberships

Primate Society of Japan

The Ecological Society of Japan

The Animal Behavior Society

International primatological society

 

Publications

Please see my list of publications.