researcher have discovered that a universe of chimpanzees in Uganda is three times larger than antecedently figure . The finding , bring out inBMC Ecologythis workweek , suggest that the apes may be adapting to fragmented habitats better than we think .
Together , the protected Budongo and Bugoma Forest Reserves make up about a fourth of the total chimpanzee universe in the country . Between the two reserve , there is an unprotected area with farming fields , natural grassland , and forested area containing villages . From 2000 to 2010 , at least 450 square kilometers ( 174 square miles ) of timber were lose between the reserves , but this degraded , man - master habitat might be a potentially vital corridor for chimps migrate between them .
So , University of Southern California’sMaureen McCarthyand fellow pass 15 month guide what ’s promise “ genetic censusing ” to bet chimpanzee in the corridor expanse . They collected 865 faecal samples and , using genetic analysis , identified the bearing of 182 individual chimps . From this they calculate a total population size of either 256 or 319 chimpanzees ( depending on the computation used ) . The findings suggest the population be at least nine communities , each contain at least eight to 33 individuals . That ’s more than three times the total indicated by a previous study based on pocket-sized - weighing machine nest count study .
A chimpanzee mother and babe cross through tilled land Hoima District , Uganda . Jack Lester
The big than look universe is “ very surprising give the fragmentation of forests in this region and the high human population tightness , ” McCarthy explain in astatement . fit in to the squad , the gamey estimate reflects the gravid truth genetic censusing offers over other method and not a significant population growth between sketch , which is unlikely given the longsighted interval between chimpanzee births and the riotous charge per unit of home ground departure in the area . “ Chimpanzees , ” she add , “ seem amazingly lively and can survive even in fast habitat if they are not hunted . ”
These surprising levels of chimp survival might be partly thanks to their behavioral flexibility , which includes adding novel – and often human - cultivated – food resource to their diets . “ Even unprotected and degraded home ground can have gamey preservation value , ” McCarthy say . Though it ’s unreadable what next survival rates will be like if home ground going continues .
A male chimp on the forest border . The tree he sits in was log some Clarence Shepard Day Jr. later . Jack Lester
