Chimpanzee Non-avoidance of Hyper-proximity with Humans

International audienceA species, especially when it is endangered and surrounded by anthropogenic elements, can bethreatened by habitat fragmentation. Food resource availability in the species’ usual or surrogate habitats mayreinforce or decrease its use of certain areas. Our objective was to to determine the influence of natural andanthropogenic variables on spatial distribution of eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Wefirst determined the home range of a wild chimpanzee community (hereafter Sebitoli ChimpanzeeCommunity [SCC]) based on global positioning system (GPS) point locations (n¼2,586 direct observationsand feces locations) collected between 2009 and 2013 in Sebitoli, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Wedescribed SCC home range using grid cells (2,959 cells of 100m100m) referencing environmental, spatial,and topographical variables (n¼15). We then determined diet and food species abundance within theirterritory (n¼63 vegetation plots and 18 months phenological survey) and predicted distribution of the10 most foraged fruit species within SCC home range, using environmental, spatial, and topographicalvariables (n¼10) by applying a maximum entropy model (maxent). We then predicted chimpanzee presenceas a function of environmental, spatial, and topographical variables (n¼15) using the maxent model andassessed its truthfulness with the kernel model, based only on GPS point locations. Chimpanzees in Sebitoliwere mostly observed in a core area of 5.42 km2 within the 25-km2 home range. They did not avoid forestedges in contact with human populations, especially males who used larger core areas than females. Factorswith the greatest positive impact on the chimpanzee distribution model (maxent area under the curve[AUC]¼0.907) were related to 3 different food resources: 1) proximity to forest edges considered asattractive because of presence of crops cultivated by local farmers; 2) proximity to a tarmac road that crossesthe SCC home range with shoulders covered by attractive terrestrial herbaceous vegetation; and 3) presenceof wild forest fruiting resources. The results obtained with the maxent predictive model, applied on a finescale, were consistent with the kernel model, based on real observations. Therefore, such an approach may berecommended for surveys or action plans interested in sustainable management of wildlife in ananthropogenic environment and may be a useful tool to better understand parameters of a prefered zone foran endangered species