The Comoé Chimpanzee Conservation Project, CCCP,[1] is a research and conservation project created in October 2014 by Juan Lapuente with the support of K. Eduard Linsenmair, from Würzburg University. Its main objectives are to study and help to preserve the population of chimpanzees resident in Comoé National Park and its neighboring areas, in Ivory Coast.
The project initially developed with the support of the Comoé Research Station.[2] CCCP has worked in collaboration with Max Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology and received funding from Fundació Barcelona Zoo, Arcus Foundation and Fish and Wildlife Service. The project keeps a close collaboration with the managers of the park, OIPR, to implement measures that help to the conservation of the chimpanzees and other key species, such as elephants and great predators.
Conservation outcome
editThe work of the project in collaboration with OIPR has helped to secure the area where the chimpanzees live and it helped to return the park to the UNESCO list of World Heritage[3] [4]
Scientific outcome
editDuring the first four years of the project, CCCP gained deep knowledge of the Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) living in savanna-woodland mosaic in Ivory Coast, discovering several new behaviors that are still under study. Comoé chimpanzees realize a behavior exclusive from this area, water dipping with specialized tools[5][6][7] and also realize a variant of the recently described accumulative stone throwing [8] The project is studying and documenting through camera-trap videos and ethnoarchaeological methods many aspects of the ecology, behavior and tool use of these chimpanzees
Social outcome
editThe project trains and incorporates local villagers of the area as research assistants, realizes awareness raising campaigns and contributes to the local economy. By 16 July 2019, the date of edition of this article, 28 students and researchers of 11 different countries have participated in the project, including six African students.
References
edit- ^ "COMOE Chimpanzee Conservation Project". www.facebook.com.
- ^ "Primatology: Chimpanzee - Comoe Researchstation". www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de. Archived from the original on 2019-12-17.
- ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "The World Heritage site of Comoé National Park in Côte d'Ivoire no longer in danger". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
- ^ juan lapuente (21 May 2015). "ANIMALS OF COMOÉ NATIONAL PARK" – via YouTube.
- ^ Lapuente, Juan; Hicks, Thurston C.; Linsenmair, K. Eduard (2017). "Fluid dipping technology of chimpanzees in Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast". American Journal of Primatology. 79 (5): e22628. doi:10.1002/ajp.22628. PMC 6120139. PMID 28002878.
- ^ "Chimp drinking culture caught on video". BBC News.
- ^ juan lapuente (1 July 2018). "Learning from mom" – via YouTube.
- ^ Boesch, Christophe; Zuberbuehler, Klaus; Wittig, Roman M.; Willie, Jacob; Vergnes, Virginie; Vanleeuwe, Hilde; Tagg, Nikki; Stewart, Fiona; Sommer, Volker; Sanz, Crickette; Rundus, Aaron; Pruetz, Jill; Piel, Alex; Ormsby, Lucy Jayne; Ntare, Nicolas; Normand, Emma; Niyigabae, Protais; Murai, Mizuki; Mulindahabi, Felix; Morgan, Bethan; Morgan, David; Moebius, Yasmin; Mihindou, Vianet; Mbi, Tanyi Julius; Marrocoli, Sergio; Maretti, Giovanna; Meier, Amelia; Leinert, Vera; Lee, Kevin; Lapuente, Juan; Lapeyre, Vincent; Langergraber, Kevin; Kujirakwinja, Deo; Kienast, Ivonne; Kambi, Mohamed; Kadam, Parag; Junker, Jessica; Jeffery, Kathryn J.; Imong, Inaoyom; Thurston Cleveland Hicks; Ter Heegde, Martijn; Hedwig, Daniela; Hart, John; Ginath, Yisa; Fernandez, Rumen; Eshuis, Henk; Dunn, Andrew; Dowd, Dervla; Diotoh, Orume; Dilambaka, Emmanuel; Dieguez, Paula; Dierks, Karsten; Deschner, Tobias; Curran, Bryan; Coupland, Charlotte; Corogenes, Katherine; Cohen, Heather; Cipoletta, Chloe; Chancellor, Rebecca; Buh, Valentine Ebua; Brazolla, Gregory; Bonnet, Matthieu; Bessone, Mattia; Bailey, Emma; Ayimisin, Emmanuel Ayuk; Agbor, Anthony; Angedakin, Samuel; Abwe, Ekwoge E.; Schijndel, Joost van; Ton, Els; Tickle, Alexander; Regnaut, Sebastien; Kehoe, Laura; Jones, Sorrel; Goedmakers, Annemarie; D’Auvergne, Lucy; Aubert, Floris; Arandjelovic, Mimi; Kalan, Ammie K.; Kühl, Hjalmar S. (29 February 2016). "Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing". Scientific Reports. 6: 22219. Bibcode:2016NatSR...622219K. doi:10.1038/srep22219. PMC 4770594. PMID 26923684.