Changes

* Key threats to chimpanzees are artisanal mining, resource competition, and habitat loss.  

* Key threats to chimpanzees are artisanal mining, resource competition, and habitat loss.  

* This community of chimpanzees has been studied since 2001 and habituated since 2005. They are the only known chimpanzee community to hunt their prey with sharpened sticks. These chimpanzees also evade the heat of their environment by soaking in free-standing water, using caves, and staying active after night fall.  

* This community of chimpanzees has been studied since 2001 and habituated since 2005. They are the only known chimpanzee community to hunt their prey with sharpened sticks. These chimpanzees also evade the heat of their environment by soaking in free-standing water, using caves, and staying active after night fall.  

The Fongoli Savanna Research Project (FSCP) was established by Dr. Jill Pruetz following the identification of a strong local chimpanzee population near to the Gambia River and north of Kedougou, in the Kedougou Region of Southeastern Senegal.  The research site is located outside of any formal protected area but the area designated as ‘Zone d'Intérêt Cynégétique Faleme’ (ZIC Faleme), zone within which hunting is strictly regulated. The site overlaps with several villages, and lies in relatively close proximity to the regional capital of Kedougou. The habitat can be described as a savanna-woodland mosaic, located within the vegetation Sudano-Guniean belt (Ba et al. 1997). Fongoli, like the broader region, experiences marked seasonality in climate, with rainfall concentrated to a short wet season and a lengthy dry season. Temperatures during the dry season frequently exceed 40deg C, often exceeding 45C in the months of April and May (Wessling et al. 2018). Other primates living at Fongoli are Guinea baboons (''Papio papio''), green monkeys (''Chlorocebus aethiops''), patas monkeys (''Erythrocebus patas''), and bushbabies (''Galago senegalensis''). All four sympatric primates are consumed by the chimpanzee research community. In addition to these primates, warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus''), banded mongoose (''Mungos mungo''), bushbuck (''Tragelaphus scriptus''), porcupine (''Hystrix cristata''), hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), leopards (''Panthera pardus''), and honey badgers (''Mellivora capensis'') can be found at the site (Lindshield et al. 2019).

The Fongoli Savanna Research Project (FSCP) was established by Dr. Jill Pruetz following the identification of a strong local chimpanzee population near to the Gambia River and north of Kedougou, in the Kedougou Region of Southeastern Senegal.  The research site is located outside of any formal protected area but the area designated as ‘Zone d'Intérêt Cynégétique Faleme’ (ZIC Faleme), zone within which hunting is strictly regulated. The site overlaps with several villages, and lies in relatively close proximity to the regional capital of Kedougou. The habitat can be described as a savanna-woodland mosaic, located within the vegetation Sudano-Guniean belt (Ba et al. 1997). Fongoli, like the broader region, experiences marked seasonality in climate, with rainfall concentrated to a short wet season and a lengthy dry season. Temperatures during the dry season frequently exceed 40deg C, often exceeding 45C in the months of April and May (Wessling et al. 2018). Other primates living at Fongoli are Guinea baboons (''Papio papio''), green monkeys (''Chlorocebus aethiops''), patas monkeys (''Erythrocebus patas''), and bushbabies (''Galago senegalensis''). All four sympatric primates are consumed by the chimpanzee research community. In addition to these primates, warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus''), banded mongoose (''Mungos mungo''), bushbuck (''Tragelaphus scriptus''), porcupine (''Hystrix cristata''), hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), leopards (''Panthera pardus''), and honey badgers (''Mellivora capensis'') can be found at the site (Lindshield et al. 2019).