Approaches and methods
A combination of field and laboratory methods are combined to answer some of the following questions:
- Under which socio-demographic and ecological conditions is meat consumption likely to increase in frequency?
- Under which conditions does diversification of behaviour emerge?
- Under which conditions does tool use complexity increase
Data are collected with a variety of methods and for investigating (a) resource availability, (b) social-demographic structure, and (c) behavior
| Data | Method |
| Vegetation (Habitat structure) | Transects, plots |
| Vegetation (Seasonal fruit availability) | Phenology: Revisits of selected trees |
| Prey | Camera traps, line transects |
| Insects | Strip and line transects, bee traps |
| Predators | Camera traps |
| Social structure | Camera traps, genetics |
| Demography | Camera traps, genetics |
| Meat consumption | Isotope analysis of hair and baseline flora and fauna |
| Tool use and availability | Camera traps, Strip transects |
| Genetics | Fecal samples |
| Pathogens | Fecal samples |
| Biodiversity | Camera traps, line transects, carrion fly traps |
Our full data collection protocol is available as a free .pdf download in ENGLISH and en FRANCAIS.
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Guidelines for research and data collection for the cultured chimpanzee Pan African programme - field protocol [pdf] |
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Directives pour la recherche et la collecte des données pour le Programme Pan Africain: Le chimpanzé cultivé |
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This document outlines current approaches to great ape surveys and monitoring for field biologists, protected area managers, government wildlife departments and the conservation community at large. |
