Materials and methods

The study area lies within the boundaries of the WAPNP (8° 21'

N, 13° 10' 10" W). The study with camera traps, Reconyx model

Rapid Fire RM 45 digital, was done from 12th of March to the 23rd

of April 2015.

Cameras were sited next to streams, trails or other areas likely to

be frequented by chimpanzees, and were operational for 6 weeks.

All cameras were set to high trigger sensitivity, high picture

quality, to take up two pictures per trigger and to wait 30 s before

the next trigger. The RM 45 took color images in daylight and

infrared images when dark by using an infrared flash,.

All pictures were screened for the presence of animals and all data

were entered in an Office ACCESS 2007 database created

specifically for this project.

Introduction

Western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) is endemic to the Western upper Guinean forest block (Wilson & Reeder, 2005) (Fig. 1), and it is listened like endangered

species under IUCN threats criteria (CITES, 2015; IUCN, 2015). The Western Area Peninsula National Park (WAPNP) (Fig. 2) is a biodiversity hotspot and a vital

watershed, but it is critically threatened by its proximity to Freetown and faces many threats from illegal land clearing, bush meat, hunting and urban expansion. This is

the main reason of the recent upgrade of the Western Area Peninsula from Forest Reserve to National Park (NEAP, 2014).

Feeding of mammalian meat by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) has been reported in various habitats and literature reports that chimpanzee’s prey animals are at least 25

species, from rodents to bush pigs. Hunt is mainly a males activity, the behaviour is started by males who cooperate for achieve the goal. Instead, females take part only

sometimes in the meat sharing process (Boesch, 2000; Mitani & Watts, 2001; Henke & Tattersall, 2007).

Camera traps are a potent tool for inventorying elusive and rare species and very useful to obtain ecological and behavioural data. Photographs provide objective

records of an animal’s presence, identity and a range of activities (Ancrenaz et al., 2012; Mendoza et al., 2011).

Aim

The aim of this report is to highlight some results obtained during a project for investigate the biodiversity of the Westeran Area Peninsula National Park. The project

focus on the chimpanzee’s population that live inside it.

References.

Ancrenaz, M., Hearn, A.J., Rahel Sollmann, J.R. & Wilting, A, (2012). Handbook for wildlife monitoring using camera-traps. BBEC Publication, Malaysia.

Ausden, M. & Wood, P. (1990). The Wildlife of the Western Area Forest Reserve, Freetown, Sierra Leone. The results of a survey carried out as a preliminary part of the Gola Rain Forest Conservation Programme. February 22nd - April 23rd, 1990. RSPB.

Boesch, C. & Boesch‐Achermann, H. (2000) The chimpanzees of the Taı¨ forest. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) (2015). Appendix I, II and III as adopted by the conference of the Parties. Available online at:http://www.CITES.org.

IUCN (2015). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org.

Henke & Tattersall (2007). Chimpanzee hunting behaviour. Handbook of Paleoantrophology.

Mendoza, E., Martineau, P.R., Brenner E. & Dirzo R. (2011). A novel method to improve individual animal identification based on Camera-trapping data. Journal of Wildlife Management 75, 973-979.

Mitani, J.C. & Watts, D.P. (2001) Why do chimpanzees hunt and share meat? Anim Behav 61: 915–924.

NEAP (2014). National Environmental Action Plan, Sierra Leone.

Wilson, D.E. & Reeder, D.M. (2005). Mammal Species of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press.

First camera trap’s photographic evidence

of Western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) eating meat

in Western Area Peninsula National Park, Sierra Leone

Dalila Frasson1,2 & Caterina Spiezio2

1Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Freetown, Sierra Leone2Research and Conservation department, Parco Natura Viva, Bussolengo, Italy

Results

The study recorded a total of 566 wildlife photographs, which included 13 species of animals. A sequence of 8 pictures (Fig. 3, 4, 5) on the 17th April at 12:07 showed

evidence of meat eating episode in a chimpanzee. A female is carrying on her back the baby and in her mouth a small duiker. We assumed that it was a duiker from the

identification of the hock joint and the hoof. Although hunting behaviour and consumption of meat in chimpanzees have been confirmed by direct sightings, this was the

first documentation of meat eating using the camera trap.

Conclusion

We can assume that, as the prey of this female’s chimpanzee is a duiker, this solitary female might hunt the ungulate opportunistically. Findings of this study highlight

two important differences on knowledge about the hunting behaviour of chimpanzees: first of all, male chimpanzees have predominantly been seen hunting whereas

females rarely take part in hunting behaviour and/or in the meat sharing process (Boesch, 2000, Mitani & Watts, 2001). Moreover, primates are the most common

animals hunted by chimpanzees whereas ungulates (Henke & Tattersall, 2007). Results of this study illustrate the power of camera trapping for investigating animal

behaviour providing a deeper understanding of hunting correlated activities with an innovative point of view.

Finally, the recent upgrade of the WAPNP put the basis of effective protection of the area, in order to guarantee a bright future for the chimpanzee population.

Fig. 1: Western upper Guinean forest block.Fig. 2: Westen Area

Peninsula National Park.

Fig. 3: First image of the sequence. Fig. 4: Fifth image of the sequence. Fig. 5: Sixth image of the sequence.