Update on the Assirik Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Population in Niokolo Koba National Park, Senegal

Abstract

<p>The Assirik, Senegal chimpanzee population was studied extensively by McGrew and colleagues in the Stirling African Primate Project (SAPP) in the late 1970s1 and surveyed by the Miami Assirik Pan Project (MAPP) in 20002. These chimpanzees (thought to represent a single community3), within the Niokolo Koba National Park (or Parc National du Niokolo Koba, PNNK), remain the only protected population in the country, with most of Senegal’s chimpanzees living in unprotected areas4. In 2012, the Iowa State Assirik Primate Project (ISAPP) surveyed Assirik and outlying areas in the PNNK to assess chimpanzee density and to explore the possibility of establishing a research program there in collaboration with the National Parks Department of Senegal and University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar. One objective in this study was to resurvey the Assirik area in order to compare our results to data collected in 2000.</p>