Crickette Sanz and David Morgan have been studying wild chimpanzees in an area known as the Goualougo Triangle in the Republic of the Congo for several years. They have evidence that the Goualougo chimpanzees use tools in ways that have been observed in other chimpanzee habitats, and some variants that are unique to the Goualougo chimpanzees. This supports the idea that  regional tool traditions or unique tool “cultures” among chimpanzee populations, a concept that is closely related to the cognitive research conducted at the Trust.

Sanz and Morgan are now observing chimpanzees and their tool use in disturbed and undisturbed forests, and will make comparisons of chimpanzee density, group size, and behavior in both types of habitat. This is similar to the work being conducted by Dr. Serge Wich and his associates on Sumatran orangutans in the Ketambe area, and will yield powerful, comparative conservation-useful data. Sanz and Morgan write: “this research proceeds in a climate of concern for the long term survival of great apes in this region as they are threatened by emerging diseases, poaching, and human disturbance. It is important in this conservation context that we consider not only the preservation of the apes themselves, but also their cultures which may be degraded or entirely extinguished under conditions of disturbance.” 

Sanz and Morgan previewed their findings at a major international conference titled “The Mind of the Chimpanzee” held in March 2007. One of their major findings was that there were far fewer termites and termite nests in disturbed forests than in undisturbed forests – probably as a result of fewer trees undergoing natural cycles of growth and deterioration in the disturbed forests. As a result of fewer termite nests, there is less tool-based termite extraction by chimpanzees in the disturbed forests. There also appear to be lower chimpanzee densities in disturbed forests, probably as a result of there being less food. Lower chimpanzee densities, fewer termite mounds, and less tool-based termite extraction combine to set the stage for the loss of cultural tool traditions among chimpanzees in the disturbed forests. If this proves to be the case, it is a dramatic demonstration of the effects of deforestation on ape behavior. Great Ape Trust provided $7,500 in support of this work in 2006, and $10,000 in 2007.