Biotropica 24:527–531Ĭhapman CA, White FJ, Wrangham RW (1994) Party size in chimpanzees and bonobos. Z Tierpsychol 33:514–522Ĭhapman CA, Chapman LJ, Wrangham RW, Hunt K, Gebo D, Gardner L (1992) Estimates of fruit abundance of tropical trees. Folia Primatol 32:290–308Ĭasimir MJ, Butenandt E (1973) Migration and core area shifting in relation to some ecological factors in a mountain gorilla group ( Gorilla gorilla beringei) in the Mt. Folia Primatol 24:1–36Ĭasimir MJ (1979) An analysis of gorilla nesting sites of the Mt. Am J Phys Anthropol 78:547–573Ĭasimir MJ (1975) Feeding ecology and nutrition of an eastern gorilla group in the Mt. Int J Primatol 23:263–282īoesch C, Boesch H (1989) Hunting behavior of wild chimpanzees in the Tai National Park. Primates 36:45–55īasabose AK, Yamagiwa J (2002) Factors affecting nesting site choice in chimpanzees at Tshibati, Kahuzi–Biega National Park: influence of sympatric gorillas. Int J Primatol 26:31–52īasabose AK, Yamagiwa J (1997) Predation on mammals by chimpanzees in the montane forest of Kahuzi, Zaire. Am J Primatol 58:1–21īasabose AK (2005) Ranging patterns of chimpanzees in a montane forest of Kahuzi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Int J Primatol 3:367–385īasabose AK (2002) Diet composition of chimpanzees inhabiting the montane forest of Kahuzi, Democratic Republic of Congo. A comparison of dietary overlap between gorillas and chimpanzees across habitats suggests that sympatry may not influence dietary overlap in fruit consumed but may stimulate behavioral divergence to reduce feeding competition between them.īaldwin PJ, McGrew WC, Tutin CEG (1982) Wide-ranging chimpanzees at Mt. Gorillas rarely fed on insects, but chimpanzees occasionally fed on bees with honey, which possibly compensate for fruit scarcity. The different staple foods (leaves and bark for gorillas and fig fruits for chimpanzees) characterize the dietary divergence between them in the montane forest of Kahuzi, where fruit is usually scarce. The species differences in fruit consumption may be attributed to the wide ranging of gorillas and repeated usage of a small range by chimpanzees and/or to avoidance of inter-specific contact by chimpanzees. However, the number of fruit species consumed by chimpanzees did not change according to ripe fruit abundance. Fruit consumption by both apes tended to increase during the dry season when ripe fruits were more abundant in their habitat. By contrast, the number of fruit species per gorilla fecal sample (average 0.8 species) was much lower than that for gorillas in the lowland habitats. Although the number of fruit species available in the montane forest of Kahuzi is much lower than that in lowland forest, the number of fruit species per chimpanzee fecal sample (average 2.7 species) was similar to that for chimpanzees in the lowland habitats.
Gorillas consumed more species of vegetative foods (especially bark) exclusively whereas chimpanzees consumed more species of fruits and animal foods exclusively. Fruits accounted for the largest overlap between them (77% for gorillas and 59% for chimpanzees).
Among these, 38% of gorilla foods and 64% of chimpanzee foods were eaten by both apes. Totals of 231 plant foods (116 species) and 137 plant foods (104 species) were recorded for gorillas and chimpanzees, respectively. Data on fruit consumption were collected mainly from fecal samples, and phenology of preferred ape fruits was estimated by monitoring. Based on 8 years of observations of a group of western lowland gorillas ( Gorilla beringei graueri) and a unit-group of chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) living sympatrically in the montane forest at Kahuzi–Biega National Park, we compared their diet and analyzed dietary overlap between them in relation to fruit phenology.
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