Publicaties

Charismatic great apes have been used widely and effectively as flagship species in conservation campaigns for decades. These iconic representatives of their ecosystems could also play a role as reservoirs of several zoonotic diseases. Recently it was demonstrated that African great apes can host Leishmania parasites (Kinetoplastea: Trypanosomatidae). Given that this finding raised a strong negative reaction from leishmania experts and the ...

Behavioural studies on animals incorporate data on morphology, physiology and energetic status, as well as kinship and genetic information. Such measures have become the state of the art when assessing the function of a given behaviour. Zoos provide opportunities for research of a kind that is difficult to undertake in the wild. In this article several advantages of studying captive animals are highlighted; for example, accessibility, ease of ...

This volume of the International Zoo Yearbook aims to address the plight of some of the most charismatic and iconic animals we know - the non-human great apes - and to showcase the work carried out by zoological institutions, sanctuaries and their conservation partners towards improving the management, well-being and protection of great ape species both in captivity and in the wild. The contributions in this volume highlight the latest ...

The present study used abundance and habitat variables to design High Conservation Value Forests for wildlife protection. We considered great apes (Gorilla gorilla gorilla and Pan troglodytes troglodytes) as model species, and we used nest surveys, dietary analysis and botanical inventories to evaluate whether the traditional methods that use abundance data alone were consistent with the survival of the species. We assumed that setting a local ...

Common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) experienced a selective sweep, probably caused by a SIV-like virus, which targeted their MHC class I repertoire. Based on MHC class I intron 2 data analyses, this selective sweep took place about 2-3 million years ago. As a consequence, common chimpanzees have a skewed MHC class I repertoire that is enriched for allotypes that are able to recognise conserved regions of the SIV proteome. The bonobo (Pan ...

Measuring hunting sustainability across West/Central African forests remains a challenge. Long-term assessment of trends is crucial. Via hunter-reported surveys we collected offtake data in three villages near the Dja Biosphere Reserve (southeast Cameroon). During four months (March-June) in 2003, 2009 and 2016, we gathered information on hunters, prey species and number of carcasses brought to the three settlements. Because it was not possible ...

The composition of herbaceous vegetation was evaluated with the aim of characterizing forests at various ages of stand development. Herb stems were sampled in 250 4-m² square plots distributed within six habitat types. A total of 36 herb species belonging to 15 families were recorded. Species richness did not significantlydiffer between habitat types. Most herb species occurred in all habitat types andwere therefore generalists. However, a few ...

The quantitative and qualitative aspects of seed dispersal by the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) were investigated in Gabon. Fresh faeces were collected and washed to identify and count the seeds. Seed germinability after gut passage was estimated with trials in a nursery at the study site. To assess the impact of gut passage on germination success and delay, comparative trials were run with four treatments: (i) gut passed ...