Great ape abundance and per capita carbon storage in their habitats.

The ecological importance of great apes is widely recognised, yet few studies have highlighted the role of protecting great apes' habitats in mitigating climate change, particularly through carbon sequestration. This study used GIS tools to extract data from various sources, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature database, to examine carbon quantity and great ape abundance in African great ape habitats. Subsequently, we employed a generalised linear model to assess the relationship between locally measured great ape populations abundance and carbon storage across areas with different levels of protection.

Discovery of Novel Herpes Simplexviruses in Wild Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees Supports Zoonotic Origin of HSV-2.

Viruses closely related to human pathogens can reveal the origins of human infectious diseases. Human herpes simplexvirus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) are hypothesized to have arisen via host-virus codivergence and cross-species transmission. We report the discovery of novel herpes simplexviruses during a large-scale screening of fecal samples from wild gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees.

Geographically structured genomic diversity of non-human primate-infecting subsp. .

Many non-human primate species in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with subsp. , the bacterium causing yaws in humans. In humans, yaws is often characterized by lesions of the extremities and face, while subsp.

Ungulate management in European national parks: Why a more integrated European policy is needed.

1. Primary objectives of national parks usually include both, the protection of natural processes and species conservation. When these objectives conflict, as occurs because of the cascading effects of large mammals (i.

Effects of Land cover change on Great Apes distribution at the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding Forest Management Units, South-East Cameroon. A 13 year time series analysis.

Understanding the effects of land cover change on wildlife distribution is very important for resource management and conservation planning. This paper aimed at detecting the effects of land cover change on great apes distribution at the Lobéké National Park and its bounded forest management units (FMUs). Data on great ape nests were collected in the field for the years 2001 and 2014 through distance sampling with line transects.

CD4 receptor diversity in chimpanzees protects against SIV infection.

Human and simian immunodeficiency viruses (HIV/SIVs) use CD4 as the primary receptor to enter target cells. Here, we show that the chimpanzee CD4 is highly polymorphic, with nine coding variants present in wild populations, and that this diversity interferes with SIV envelope (Env)-CD4 interactions. Testing the replication fitness of SIVcpz strains in CD4 T cells from captive chimpanzees, we found that certain viruses were unable to infect cells from certain hosts.

Nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Evidence for flexible sleeping patterns and insights into human evolution.

Objectives: We investigated occurrences and patterns of terrestrial nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and modelled the influence of various ecological predictors on nocturnal activity.

Methods: Data were extracted from terrestrial camera-trap footage and ecological surveys from 22 chimpanzee study sites participating in the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee. We described videos demonstrating nocturnal activity, and we tested the effects of the percentage of forest, abundance of predators (lions, leopards and hyenas), abundance of large mammals (buffalos and elephants), average daily temperature, rainfall, human activity, and percent illumination on the probability of nocturnal activity.

Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest.

Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities.

The socio-economic drivers of bushmeat consumption during the West African Ebola crisis.

Bushmeat represents an important source of animal protein for humans in tropical Africa. Unsustainable bushmeat hunting is a major threat to wildlife and its consumption is associated with an increased risk of acquiring zoonotic diseases, such as Ebola virus disease (EVD). During the recent EVD outbreak in West Africa, it is likely that human dietary behavior and local attitudes toward bushmeat consumption changed in response to the crisis, and that the rate of change depended on prevailing socio-economic conditions, including wealth and education.

Locating chimpanzee nests and identifying fruiting trees with an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Monitoring of animal populations is essential for conservation management. Various techniques are available to assess spatiotemporal patterns of species distribution and abundance. Nest surveys are often used for monitoring great apes.

Estimating chimpanzee population size with nest counts: validating methods in Taï National Park.

Successful conservation and management of wild animals require reliable estimates of their population size. Ape surveys almost always rely on counts of sleeping nests, as the animals occur at low densities and visibility is low in tropical forests. The reliability of standing-crop nest counts and marked-nest counts, the most widely used methods, has not been tested on populations of known size.

The price of play: self-organized infant mortality cycles in chimpanzees.

Chimpanzees have been used extensively as a model system for laboratory research on infectious diseases. Ironically, we know next to nothing about disease dynamics in wild chimpanzee populations. Here, we analyze long-term demographic and behavioral data from two habituated chimpanzee communities in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, where previous work has shown respiratory pathogens to be an important source of infant mortality.

Manipulating decay time for efficient large-mammal density estimation: gorillas and dung height.

Large-mammal surveys often rely on indirect signs such as dung or nests. Sign density is usually translated into animal density using sign production and decay rates. In principle, such auxiliary variable estimates should be made in a spatially unbiased manner.