Instrumental Leaf Use by Chimpanzees of the Budongo Forest (Sonso Community)

Conclusion

Future Research

Results of this survey appear to warrant a more intensive investigation into Sonso chimpanzees’ LAD and UAD practices, with closer control over (1) observation schedules, to ensure comparable data records for every daylight hour through all seasons of the year; and (2) recording of behavior, to secure records of LAD and UAD for as many individuals as is practical and in detail adequate for at least a coarse-grained comparison of similarities and differences in individual practice. Primatologists seem in general to approve an assumption that dipping or sponging water from a tree bole, obtaining water in the same way from an open water source, and drinking water with mouth applied directly to the source are equivalent ways of satisfying a single primary physiological requirement. That assumption probably should be examined at least to the extent of (1) measuring or estimating water intake by each of these means; (2) ascertaining if possible whether Acalypha leaves are favored by Budongo chimpanzees (and chimpanzees in other forests?) strictly for properties important to water transport or, in part and perhaps as importantly, because they are abundant and/or distributed in convenient proximity with water sources; and (3) investigating through chemical analysis and taste assessment whether water samples obtained from tree boles at which LAD has been observed may not reveal traces of nutrient value and/or flavor character, either of which conceivably could encourage leaf sponging.