Abstract
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) prey on a variety of vertebrates, mostly on red colobus (Procolobus spp.) where the two species are sympatric. Variation across population occurs in hunting frequency and success, in whether hunting is cooperative, i.e., payoffs to individual hunters increase with group size, and in the extent to which hunters coordinate their actions in space and time, and in the impact of hunting on red colobus populations. Also, hunting frequency varies over time within populations, for reasons that are unclear. We present new data on hunting by chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda, and combine them with earlier data (Mitani and Watts, 1999, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 109: 439–454) to examine hunting frequency and success, seasonality, and cooperation. The Ngogo community is the largest and has the most males of any known community. Chimpanzees there mostly hunt red colobus and are much more successful and make many more kills per hunt than at other sites; they kill 6–12% of the red colobus population annually. The number of kills and the offtake of meat per hunt increase with the number of hunters, but per capita meat intake is independent of hunting party size; this suggests that cheating occurs in large parties. Some behavioral cooperation occurs. Hunting success and estimated meat intake vary greatly among males, partly due to dominance rank effects. The high overall success rate leads to relatively high average per capita meat intake despite the large number of consumers. The frequency of hunts and of hunting patrols varies positively with the availability of ripe fruit; this is the first quantitative demonstration of a relationship between hunting frequency and the availability of other food, and implies that the chimpanzees hunt most when they can easily meet energy needs from other sources. We provide the first quantitative support for the argument that variation in canopy structure influences decisions to hunt red colobus because hunts are easier where the canopy is broken.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Boesch, C. (1994a). Chimpanzees and red colobus monkeys: A predator prey system. Anim. Behav. 47: 1135–1148.
Boesch, C. (1994b). Cooperative hunting in wild chimpanzees. Anim. Behav. 48: 653–667.
Boesch, C., and Boesch, H. (1989). Hunting behavior of wild chimpanzees in the Taï National Park. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 78: 547–573.
Boesch, C., and Boesch, H. (2000). The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Busse, C. (1978). Do chimpanzees hunt cooperatively? Am. Nat. 112: 767–770.
Butynski, T. (1994). Comparative ecology of blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) in high-and low-density subpopulations. Ecol. Monogr. 60: 1–26.
Chapman, C. A., Chapman, L. J., Wrangham, R., Isibirye-Basuta, G., and Ben-David, K. (1997). Spatial and temporal variability in the structure of a tropical forest. Afr. J. Ecol. 35: 287–302.
Creel, S., and Creel, N. M. (1995). Communal hunting and pack size in African wild dogs. Anim. Behav. 50: 1325–1339.
de Waal, F. B. M. (1982). Chimpanzee Politics, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Goodall, J. (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Holenweg, A. K., Noe, R., and Schabel, M. (1996). Waser's gas model applied to associations between red colobus and diana monkeys in the Taï National Park. Folia Primatol. 67: 125–136.
Hosaka, K. (1995). Chimpanzee predation on red colobus in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Anthropol. Science 103: 160–178.
Hosaka, K., Nishida, T., Hamai, M., Matsumoto-Oda, A., and Uehara, S. (in press). Predation of mammals by the chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania. In Galdikas, B. M. F., Briggs, N. E., Sheeran, L., and Shapiro, G. (eds.), All Apes Great and Small, Kluwer, New York.
Ihobe, H., and Uehara, S. (1999). A preliminary report on the impact of chimpanzee hunting on mammal populations at Mahale, Tanzania. Primate Research 15: 163–169.
Kuroda, S., Nishihara, T., Suzuki, S., and Oko, R. (1996). Sympatric chimpanzees and gorillas in the Ndoki Forest, Congo. In: McGrew, W.C., Marchant, L.F., and Nishida, T. (eds.), Great Ape Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 71–81.
Mitani, J. C., Hunley, K. L., and Murdoch, M. E. (1999). Geographic variation in the calls of wild chimpanzees: A reassessment. Amer. J. Primatol. 47: 133–151.
Mitani, J. C., Merriwether, D. A., and Zhang, C. (2000a). Male affiliation, cooperation, and kinship in wild chimpanzees. Anim. Behav. 59: 885–893.
Mitani, J. C., Struhsaker, T. T., and Lwanga, J. (2000b). Primate community dynamics in oldgrowth forest over 23.5 years at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda: Implications for consveration and census methods. Intl. J. Primatol. 21: 269–286.
Mitani, J., and Watts, D. P. (1999). Demographic influences on the hunting behavior of chimpanzees. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 109: 439–454.
Mitani, J. C., and Watts, D. P. (in press). Why do chimpanzees hunt and share meat? Anim. Behav. 61: 915-924.
Mitani, J. C., Watts, D. P., and Lwanga, J. L. (in press). Ecological and social correlates of chimpanzee party size and gregariousness. In Hohmann, G., Boesch, C., and Marchant, L.F. (eds.), Behavioral Variation in Chimpanzees and Bonobos, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Nishida, T. (1983). Alpha status and agonistic alliance in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Primates 24: 318–336.
Packer, C., and Ruttan, L. (1988). The evolution of cooperative hunting. Amer. Nat. 132: 159–198.
Pepper, J., Mitani, J. C., and Watts, D. P. (1999). General gregariousness and specific partner preference among wild chimpanzees. Intl. J. Primatol. 20: 613–632.
Stanford, C. B. (1996). The hunting ecology of wild chimpanzees: Implications for the evolutionary ecology of Pliocene hominoids. Am. Anthropol. 98: 96–113.
Stanford, C. B. (1998). Chimpanzee and Red Colobus: The Ecology of Predator and Prey, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Stanford, C. B., Wallis, J., Matama, H, and Goodall, J. (1994a). Patterns of predation by chimpanzees on red colobus monkeys in Gombe National Park, 1982-1991. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 94: 213–228.
Stanford, C. B., Wallis, J., Mpongo, E., and Goodall, J. (1994b). Hunting decisions in wild chimpanzees. Behaviour 131: 1–20.
Struhsaker, T. T. (1975). The Red Colobus Monkey, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Struhsaker, T. T. (1997). The Ecology of an African Rainforest, University Presses of Florida, Gainesville.
Struhsaker, T. T., and Leakey, M. (1990). Prey selectivity by crowned hawk-eagles on monkeys in the Kibale Forest, Uganda. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 26: 435–443.
Struhsaker, T. T., and Leland, L. (1987). Colobines: Infanticide by adult males. In Smuts, B. B., Cheney, D. L., Seyfarth, R. M., Wrangham, R. W., and Struhsaker, T. T. (eds.), Primate Societies, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 83–97.
Takahata, Y., Hasagawa, T., and Nishida, T. (1984). Chimpanzee predation in the Mahale Mountains from August 1979 to May 1982. Intl. J. Primatol. 5: 213–233.
Teleki, G. (1973). The Predatory Behavior of Wild Chimpanzees, Bucknell University Press, Lewisburg, PA.
Teleki, G. (1981). The omnivorous diet and eclectic feeding habits of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. In Harding, R.S.O., and Teleki, G. (eds.), Omnivorous Primates, Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 303–343.
Tutin, C. E. G., Fernandez, M., Rogers, M. E., Williamson, E. A., and McGrew, W. C. (1991). Foraging profiles of sympatric lowland gorillas and chimpanzees in the Lope Reserve, Gabon. In Whiten, A., and Widdowson, E. M. (eds.), Foraging Strategies and Natural Diet of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 19–26.
Uehara, S. (1997). Predation on mammals by the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Primates 38: 198–214.
Watts, D. P. (1998). Coalitionary mate guarding by male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 44: 43–55.
Watts, D. P. (2000a). Grooming between male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. I. Partner number and diversity and reciprocity. Intl. J. Primatol. 21: 189–210.
Watts, D. P. (2000b). Grooming between male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. II. Male rank and priority of access to partners. Intl J. Primatol. 21: 211–238.
Watts, D. P., and Mitani, J.C. (2000). Infanticide and cannibalism by male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Primates 41: 357–364.
Wrangham, R. W. (1975). The Behavioral Ecology of Chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, Unpublished PhD thesis, Cambridge University.
Wrangham, R. W. (1977). Feeding behaviour of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. In Clutton-Brock, T. H. (ed.), Primate Ecology, Academic Press, London, pp. 504–538.
Wrangham, R. W. (1996). Social ecology of Kanyawara chimpanzees: Implications for understanding the costs of great ape groups. In McGrew, W. C., Marchant, L. F., and Nishida, T. (eds.), Great Ape Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 45–77.
Wrangham, R.W., and Bergmann-Riss, E.L. (1990). Rates of predation on mammals by Gombe chimpanzees, 1972-1975. Primates 38: 157–170.
Wrangham, R.W., Conklin, N. L., Chapman, C. A., and Hunt, K. D. (1991). The significance of fibrous foods for Kibale Forest chimpanzees. In Whiten, A., and Widdowson, E.M. (eds.), Foraging Strategies and Natural Diet of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 11–18.
Wrangham, R.W., Chapman, C. A., Clark-Arcadi, A. P., and Isibivye-Basuta, G. (1996). Social ecology of Kanyawara chimpanzees: implications for understanding the costs of great age groups. In McGrew, W. C., Marchant, L. F., and Nishida, T. (eds.), Great Ape Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Watts, D.P., Mitani, J.C. Hunting Behavior of Chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. International Journal of Primatology 23, 1–28 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013270606320
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013270606320