Habituation of western gorillas: the process and factors that influence it
- 7 May 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in American Journal of Primatology
- Vol. 69 (12), 1354-1369
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.20442
Abstract
Habituation of western gorillas to human presence is generally an expensive, lengthy and difficult process. Here we describe the habituation process for two groups of western gorillas at the Mondika Research Center, with the hope that the lessons we learned will facilitate future gorilla studies. We expand upon earlier studies by describing the process through complete habituation for both males and females, and for more than one group. The major obstacle to habituation was developing sufficient tracking skills to follow gorilla trail on a daily basis. Once this was achieved, the silverback became semi‐habituated (i.e. ignoring human presence during half of contacts) within a year, although the majority of group females continued to avoid humans. As female presence at contacts increased, a period of male recidivism followed, requiring an additional year before his complete habituation was reached. Habituating the females took longer than the male, but we found, contrary to earlier studies, that it consisted of the same stages, including avoidance, aggression, and curiosity before habituation. We compare results between groups and across sites and discuss how factors such as tracking abilities, group size and cohesion, population density and home range overlap, and the manner of approaching gorillas during contacts influence the habituation process. Am. J. Primatol. 69:1354–1369, 2007.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Impact of ecological and social factors on ranging in western gorillasAmerican Journal of Primatology, 2004
- Home‐range use and intergroup encounters in western gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla) at Lossi forest, North CongoAmerican Journal of Primatology, 2004
- Effects of group dynamics and diet on the ranging patterns of a western gorilla group (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at Bai Hokou, Central African RepublicAmerican Journal of Primatology, 2004
- Behavioral Responses of Gorillas to Habituation in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African RepublicInternational Journal of Primatology, 2004
- Habituating primates: processes, techniques, variables and ethicsPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2003
- Western lowland gorilla diet and resource availability: New evidence, cross‐site comparisons, and reflections on indirect sampling methodsAmerican Journal of Primatology, 2002
- Vocal relationships of wild mountain gorillasPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2001
- Subspecific variation in gorilla behavior: the influence of ecological and social factorsPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2001
- Comparative studies of African ape vocal behaviorPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,1996
- Responses of wild chimpanzees and gorillas to the arrival of primatologists: behaviour observed during habituationPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,1991