conducted by Roman Wittig & Christophe Boesch

Taï chimpanzees (P. t.verus) have been the subjects of behavioral research for over thirty years (founded in 1979 by Christophe and Hedwige Boesch). At present the project is following three habituated neighbouring communities totaling some 100 individuals. Each group is followed by a team of several Ivorian field assistants, international research assistants, PhD students and researchers on a daily basis. Local and international research staff has to comply to a strict hygienic protocol to prevent zoonotic disease transmission, which was developed in close collaboration with Fabian Leendertz (Robert Koch Institute, Project Group Zoonoses). As part of the hygienic protocol staff go through five days of quarantine in the North camp before moving to the research camps. Having a permanent vet on site and using a field laboratory we are able to monitor the health status of staff and wildlife.

Research is conducted out of three research field camps from where teams start to conduct their nest to nest follows of the chimpanzees. Studies of the Taï population have led to insights into the construction and use of tools, cooperative hunting behavior, and many aspects of chimpanzee social life. More recently, comparisons of behavior patterns seen at Taï with those exhibited in other chimpanzee populations all over Africa have led to the recognition of chimpanzee culture, an attribute previously restricted to humans.

Researchers of TCP in the Taï National Park workclosely with the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and the Ivorian national park authorities (OIPR - Office Ivorien des Parcs et Réserves) to protect the chimpanzees' future.

At present research conducted at TCP is using several different methodological approaches, principally behavioural observations, bio-banking of feces and urine, hormonal analysis from non-invasive sampling of urine and faeces, genetic analysis from non-invasive sampling of faeces and hair, cognition field experiments, video- and vocalisation-recording, remote video and audiorecording and monitoring.

• Communication and evolution of language
• Cultural differences between neighboring communities
• Demographic changes (long-term)
• Intercommunity interactions
• Parasite and disease effects
• Physical and social cognition
• Social bonds and cooperation
• Social interactions and stress
• Survey techniques and bio-monitoring

Research at TCP is supervised by a scientific committee consisting of researchers from the MPI Evolutionary Anthropology and the Robert Koch Institute. Established in 2012 the committee consists of: Chrsitophe Boesch, Catherine Crockford, Tobias Deschner, Fabian Leendertz and Roman Wittig. Research at Taï is greatly supported by the invaluable help of our field staff coming from villages close to the research area:

• HonoraKpazahi,
• Louis BernardBally,
• Appollinaire Gnahe Djirian,
• Goulei Florent,
• Arnoud Poly,
• Benjamin Dadie,
• Frederic Yehanon Oulai,
• Josephine Raissa Gnonkonte,
• Roger Kami Nabo

• Denis Lia,
• Alphonse Tagnon,
• Martin Dere,
• Lambert Yao,
• Emile Tere Tare,
• Roland Peho

• Alain Toubate,
• Justin BleKouya,
• Jean Claude Blaihyo,
• Hubert Goulehi,
• Louis Pahi,
• Alexis Touan

• GregoireNohonKohon,
• Camille Bole

• Sidiki Kone

• Dr Tobias Deschner, Department of Primatology: 'Behavioural Endocrinology'
• Dr Amanda Henry, Department of Human Evolution: 'Signs of diet in chimpanzees' calculus'
• Dr Gottfried Hohmann, Department of Primatology: 'Pan-Pan comparison: bonobo - chimpanzee'
• Dr Hjalmar Kühl, Department of Primatology: 'Pan-African program'
• Robert Power, Department of Human Evolution: 'Signs of diet in chimpanzees' calculus'
• Dr Linda Vigilant, Department of Primatology: 'Kin relationships of Tai chimpanzees'
• Erin Wessling, Department of Primatology: 'Ecological and hormonal variation across West-African chimpanzee populations'

People:

• Dr Simone Pika, MPI Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany. Joint PhD project on “Ontogeny of gestures in Tai chimpanzees”.
• Dr Andrew Plumptre, Wildlife Conservation Society, Kampala, Uganda. Joint project on “Forest phenology across Africa”.
• Prof Klaus Zuberbuehler, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel,
  Switzerland. Joint project on “Social complexity and cognition in mangabeys”.

Institutions:

• Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique (CSRS), Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
• Institute Louis Pasteur, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
• Office Ivorien des Parces et Reserves (OIPR), Cote d’Ivoire
• Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF), West African Office, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Dr. Roman M. Wittig
Director of the Taï Chimpanzee Project
phone: +49 341 3550204
email: taichimpproject@[>>> Please remove the brackets! <<<]eva.mpg.de