Kasoje Forest

By Lazaro George - Guide, Greystoke Mahale

It was 20th of September 2009 rain started here in Mahale Mountain National Park before that day it was very dry everywhere. Within one week the new shoots started to set up although the rain stopped for a short time. It was a good time to spot the other primates from far away feeding on new leaves at the time.

Actually west Tanzania especially along lake Tanganyika, the rainy season lasts a long time compared to other places here in Tanzania. Most of the time of the year, all mountains look green and the forest is very dense.

We normally take the people to the middle of the lake where we are enjoying a lovely view from both sides of the lake. We also enjoy to be at a place like this without seeing any other people or boats around

New baby in Mahale

By Vianney J. Kabwine– Guide, Greystoke Mahale

In Most of the chimpanzee’s communities, Female chimpanzees can easily migrate to other communities without any problem. It is very easy for them especially when they are on estrus because for the chimpanzees when a female is in estrus it’s only the alpha male who has the first privilege of mating with her, So that means if she is an immigrant to another community and she is in estrus she will be well protected by him from those jealousy female.

In the M-community we have several females who have migrated from other communities, Omo, Vera and Ua are recently immigrant females.  Among these females one of them was noticed as pregnant for a long time. She was seen within the group, but on the first week of December one of these immigrant females who is pregnant was not seen with other chimpanzees.

On the 13^th December, She was seen again accompanied by the alpha male (Pimu), No2 (Alofu) and the king maker or Prime Minister Kalunde. She had a new baby with her. Vera one of the immigrant females has brought a new baby to the chimpanzees of M-community. She was sitting next to the big males for her baby`s security because no other males will be able to do any charging displays in front of the big males especially in front of the alpha male. She was holding her baby with her hands, also attach the baby on her belly, she was very protective as if a human being is holding an egg. We didn’t even have a chance to take photos of the baby and even tell the sex; however we got few chances of seeing the face

Adult chimp steals baby colobus

By Gabriel Mushi - Guide, Greystoke Mahale

In October this year, I was out in the forest viewing chimpanzees. It was a tough day to initially locate chimpanzees and we waited in camp for several hours without hearing a word from our trackers who always go ahead earlier in the morning to find chimpanzees and radio through camp when they found them. Around ten in the morning when I was about to propose to do a different activity, I received a word from our trackers that a small group of chimpanzees was located.

We set out toward where they were, soon we received the news. We walked a pretty distance from camp before getting where they were. We found a group of four chimpanzees; Abi and her baby, Darwin and Kalunde. Abi and her baby were in one tree; Darwin and Kalunde were in another tree some distance away. In that same area, there was a small troop of red colobus up in the canopies of tall trees. Repeatedly the colobus gave sui-suiii alarm calls, warning one another of the danger around.

In a canopy of one tree, very close to where Abi was sitting—a red colobus was hiding with a tiny baby. We did not notice, that there was a colobus in that tree--until we saw her trying to escape when Abi was leaping to a canopy she was hiding in it. It appears that Abi had spotted that red colobus long before we got there, and it appeared that she was aiming to grab the baby red colobus clinging to her mother’s belly. Abi, leapt to that red colobus’s hiding site, and grabbed the adult colobus by her neck and tail—and moved her sideways to expose the tiny baby colobus clinging on her mother belly. In that position the baby colobus was grabbed by Abi easily and she ran away with it, leaving the mother red colobus screaming loudly.

That action was quick, well planned and very efficient. The screaming drew attention of Darwin and Kalunde who responded by running toward where the screaming was coming from. When Darwin and Kalunde got there it was too late, Abi had got the baby and had already ran away with it. The mother red colobus, seeing those adult males getting closer to her, she ran away screaming and join other colobus, who by then had started to flee away themselves.

Bush pigs in Mahale

By Vianney Jacob, Guide - Greystoke Mahale

Apart from Chimpanzees tracking in Mahale Mountains National Park there are other Animals that a person can look for. Bushbucks, Warthogs, Yellow Baboons, Red tailed monkeys are some of the animals that you will see while tracking the chimpanzees in Mahale National Park.

Most of the times while walking through the lower part of the forest, you will see a lot of dung on the trails. Some of them can be fresh and some dry. Most of the times the dung brings a discussion while walking through forest.

Bush Pigs are not often seen during the day, they come out of their holes or hiding places at night but sometimes you can only see them when they hear you coming and run away from their hiding places. But at Greystoke Camp area is different, normally from 7:30pm they always come behind the staff  kitchen and feed on  roots or sometimes seen wandering up and down looking for food near the kitchen or even near the guests room you can still hear them feeding. Getting close to them and look at them also creates another impression. You can get close to up to 40 meters but you will have to stand against the wind because they have a strong sense of smell that will alert them of your presence. It’s so amazing to see these animals during the night after you have seen the dung during the day. Bush pigs are not seen that often in other parks but you could see them here in mahale especially at Greystoke Mahale.

Earthquake at Mahale

By Mwiga Mambo, Tracker - Greystoke Mahale

On 14th November 2009 I went into the forest to track chimpanzees. At around 7:40am I found a group of chimpanzees up in some big trees eating fruits. The chimpanzees saw me coming and did not react negatively to my approaching them at all; they kept on relaxing and feeding.

Suddenly I heard a loud terrifying sound; it was a sound from a tremor from an earth quake. The chimpanzees hearing that loud sound on my arrival, they perhaps thought I was the source and started to scream out. Primus and Cadmus, both adult males came from the undergrowth charging and loudly screaming and climbed to join other chimpanzees up in the trees. Three minutes from when the earth quake occurred, those chimpanzees kept quiet and Christmas, a sub-adult male climbed down. When he got to the ground, he stood on his hind feet and looked at me. He quickly got back to the ground on his four feet and started to scream out and charging while running away from me. Other chimpanzees who were quiet for a while started to scream again when they heard Christmas screaming for a second time. On a tree a bit far from where I was standing Christmas climbed up on it and looked at me with fearful and glaring eyes. They continued to scream and be uncomfortable in my presence for about half an hour.

But 20 minutes later a loud sound from a boat engine started from a camp and aroused the chimpanzees again. This time the scream started from Wakusi, a mother of the beta male. The alarm was picked up by all the chimpanzees around. It appeared, right up until a time when I was leaving, that they were still imagining I was the source of that loud sound and saw me as a threat for that day. But it wasn’t the case the next morning when I went out chimping. They could relax in my presence and carried on with their activities.

Picture by Hugh Webster

Darwin entertains guests with his eating habits

By Lazaro George - Guide, Greystoke Mahale

Darwin is one of the chimpanzees in the M community here in Mahale Mountains National Park. He lost his mother when he was still a young boy. Actually other chimpanzees adopted him by providing him some wild fruits, grooming, playing with and so on. 

He had also the tracker, Moshi Bunengwa who really liked him when he met him in the forest, assisting him by giving him some fruits, grooming. By that behaviour he is still familiar with people nowadays. Either sitting or passing between the observing  people without care what you are holding or distance between one to another.

July of this year I had one family of five guests. We set off to go chimping early in the morning. We were lucky to find them nearby camp and one of the chimpanzees we saw in that day was Darwin. He appeared from undergrowth and passed where we were and sat beside the trail next to the fig tree. Darwin started to pick up fig tree fruits and feed on them. We spend about 25 minutes watching him. It was so fun for everybody because he picked up a lot of fruits and puts in the mouth one by one and peeling out the layer by setting  the fruit against the fore tooth and rolling it by using his tongue.

 

 

Pied Wagtail nest in Mahale dhows

By Gabriel Mushi- Guide, Greystoke Mahale.

African pied wagtail is one of the birds found in mahale mountain national park, especially to the lowland open parts of the forest. This bird is black and white in color and you can diff btw male and female by the black breast band in which male band is broader than female. They have a tendency of waging their tail up and down when resting hence the name.

There is one pair that is often seen around Greystoke camp, and this pair mostly accompanies our boats on the way in and out up to the certain distance and fly back either to nearby trees or back to camp awaiting the boat return. Their habit of following the boats especially MV Gwekulo, is because they have their nest in the cabin of the boat. They enter the cabin of the boat through the small opening in front of the boat. Sometime you will see them with grasses and thin roots bringing them to the boat for nest making. Their nest is like a bulk cup composed of dry grass, stem and roots. After laying eggs one will continue to incubate and raise the chicks when the boats depart to the airstrip sometime up to 7 hours before coming back. They are among the birds that have the habit of reusing their nest, so they have used their nest in the Gwekulo boat for some few years now by repairing it when nesting. The reason for them using the boat for nesting is probably because Vervet monkey and Yellow baboons do not get in to the boat so protecting their eggs from predation by these Monkeys. 

Chimps in canoes?

By Mwiga Mambo- Tracker, Greystoke Mahale.

It was 23^rd Sept when we were tracking chimpanzees in the evening. The chimps were heading to the northern part of their home range, and when we reached one trail known as G5, there was a dead Pcnanthus log. When the chimpanzees get to this log they have a habit of licking it as if they were licking rocks to get salt minerals. The log has now fallen down because it has rotted more, and where the chimps were licking has developed a shape like a local canoe.

When the chimps we were following reached this dead log some ignored it but one juvenile chimp known as Matsuya could not resist such a simple pleasure, so she gets into a place that has developed itself like a canoe and leaned her shoulder from one side to the other as someone paddling a canoe. After that she started shaking it and standing on top of it and tried to drum it but lastly she get in again and feeling tired she get out and tried to drag the log, but it was far too heavy for her so she left.

New baby born to the chimps of the M-community

By Kakae Saiteu, Guide - Greystoke Mahale
 

Totsy, one of the most relaxed and comfortable with human presence of all females in the habituated chimpanzees’ community, recently went missing from the main group. The main group is normally composed of the alpha male, adult and sub adult males, several females and infants. The researchers noticed Totsy’s absence from the main group on 31st of August, the next time they saw her again was on 3rd of September accompanied by Kalunde and her only son, Teddy. But when watching Totsy and her companion getting closer, they could see a tiny thing on her belly. On close examination they realized that Totsy had given birth to a baby female.
 

Next morning when we went out chimping we found her back to the main big group, probably she came to introduce the little one to other members. We found her sitting with Carter, an adult male, Teddy her son and Matsuya, a juvenile female. A few metres from where they were seated were others chimpanzees grooming and many others were in bushes feeding nearby. Totsy looked over possessive to the tiny baby. Whoever showed an attempt to touch her baby, she reacted aggressively to those individuals subordinate to her and walked away when dominant ones walk by or showed interest to the baby. Even Teddy her very own son wasn’t allowed to touch the baby of which he seems to be interested. Teddy and Matsuya however, following refusal of Totsy to let them hold and play with the baby, engaged in a marvelous play up and down trees and time to time could come by, peering at the little baby before running away.  

By Vianney J. Kabwine– Guide, Greystoke Mahale

It was at almost 21:50 and most of the Greystoke staff were sitting watching a FIFA confederation cup match on television. After all the cheering we saw something passing between us at a speed that we couldn’t tell what it was. No one was able to tell what has happened and after some time we all get back and keep on watching the match.
After the match ended everyone was keen to know what passed by us while we were watching the match? We took our flash lights and started searching for it because we heard something eating under the wooden floor. Banded Mongoose and Dwarf mongoose are the mostly likely to be seen in many national parks.

It was a White Tailed Mongoose feeding under the wooden floor!!! It was my first time seeing this animal, I rushed to my tent and came out with my Camera and enjoyed the moment with the white tailed mongoose. They sometimes come around the staff tents and feed under the wooden floor of the tents or they feed near staff kitchen. It is so amazing watching these animals near people; they could just come very close to you and feed.

Vervets and yellow baboons compete for guava fruits

By Hassani Rashid - Tracker, Greystoke Mahale

In Mahale Mountain National Park, there are eight other species of primates apart from Chimpanzees.
On 14th of August 2009 I was in the forest tracking chimpanzees, when I came across a vervet monkey with her tiny baby up on a guava tree eating fruits. While standing there watching, I saw a male yellow baboon come toward that tree where the vervet was. As he got closer to about 4 metres from that tree the vervet was the vervet started acting defensive, by bristling her hair, giving alarm calls while at the same time coming to lower branches as if is coming to attack the baboon. The yellow baboon couldn’t be stopped by that aggression and continued to walk toward that tree. As he got to the tree, the vervet kept on screaming but louder than before and other vervets who were up on trees nearby rush in for help. The baboon seeing more and more vervet coming from almost all trees around, decided to flee away.

Unfortunately many vervets were already nearby and started to attack the baboon as he struggles to get away. That left me puzzled, as whether the yellow baboon was after the vervet’s baby or guava fruits. When yellow baboons get an opportunity they can hunt and eat other small primates including Vervet monkey.

Viellot's Black Weaver in Mahale

By Gabriel l Mushi - Guide, Greystoke Mahale.

Viellot’s black weaver is one of the passerine birds found in Mahale National Park. The male is glossy black and the female is olive green in plumage coloration. The first thing to warn you of their presence is the ball shaped nest hanging at the tip of reeds branches growing along the lake edge/shore, and others in the shallows and along the River Lubulungu.

They are very vocal and shy birds, fly away when approached very closely. The number of males seems to be many more than that of females. Like other weavers they are polygamous, whereby one male mate with several females. Males court the females by preparing several nests and calling from the nest site while fluttering his wings to attract the female. The female will fly by inspecting the nest and in the world of survival for the fittest she will choose the male that will be able to protect and guard the eggs and chicks, hence pass their genes to next generation. Though there are many nests, only few will be utilized and the remaining ones left for confusing the predators. Though they nest down at the lake edge they as well venture in the forest to feed on fruits mostly in the morning and late afternoon.

Oil palm and its uses in Mahale

By Suleiman Juma - Tracker, Greystoke Mahale

The Palm tree is one of the trees found in the Mahale Mountain forest, mainly dominating the lowland part of the forest. It was introduced once upon a time by the Tongwe people who lived in the area before it was acknowledged as a national park.

This tree has many uses, both to wild animals and local people living adjacent to national park. It bears palm nuts as fruits in big clusters, which many animals use as food. Yellow baboon, Red tailed monkey, and Vervet monkey mostly feed on the palm nut yellowish outer flesh and drop the kernels on the ground hence make it accessible to other mammals like Bush pig and Warthog that cannot climb up to pick the nuts. Palm nut vulture, one of the big bird of prey found in mahale feed on the outer flesh of the palm nut fruit, hence the name palm nut vulture. Many locals has planted the tree outside the national park where they are living and uses the palm nut fruit to produce palm oil that they uses for cooking, and as medicine for eyes washing if you have sore eyes. They burn the male part of the palm to produce smoke that is used as mosquito repellant. Also the palm trunk once cut leaks a sap. Locals put a pot toward the end of the trunk and let the water from the trunk seep into the pot to make palm wine.

Cadmus and Primus trick greedy alpha male

By Mwiga Mambo, Tracker - Greystoke Mahale

On Thursday, one of the days usually clients leave and new one comes to Greystoke Mahale camp, we went out in the evening to track and see where the chimps could nest that night. Knowing where they are nesting gives us clue of how chimping would likely to be next morning.

Up on top of a hill where we normally go to listen for their calls, we heard a lot of calls not far from where we were. We knew there was something going on. We rushed to that spot and find chimps ready to hunt red-colobus. There were a lot of screaming, barking and calls of different kind. Red-colobus got confused and started leaping from one branch to other. Alpha male Pimu rushed quickly up on a tree strangled by climbers and got a female red-colobus with her tiny baby clinging by the belly. He killed both mother and the baby.

He then, climbed down off that tree, sat on a ground and started to eat. Other chimps both males and females gathered around begging from him, but he wouldn’t give meat to anyone. He go on scaring or attacking those that got very close to where he was sitting. Poor Nkombo, she humbly approached Pimu and seeing no signs of aggressive from him, she stretched out her hand to take meat. Pimu grabbed her by hand and badly beat her. No one could dare coming closer to him anymore.

But on a tree, sat two brave, intelligent males; Primus and Cadmus watching what was going around. At once they both climbed down from that tree, and walked toward Pimu each one coming toward him from opposite direction. Pimu seeing that, he got up to challenge Cadmus who was a bit closer to where he was than Primus. Reluctantly Cadmus stopped, and Pimu fiercely charged him. When charging Cadmus, Primus get a chance to steal the prey, he took the female red-colobus and start to run away with it. Pimu seeing his prey taken, stopped charging Cadmus and go on charging Primus to have his meat back. Cadmus took that chance and takes away the remaining kill of the tiny baby colobus. Pimu couldn’t catch Primus who went through thick undergrowth. He came back for the tiny baby, which too was taken by Cadmus. Greedy Pimu nothing left with him, and in desperation wandered from one thicket undergrowth to another.

Picture - Michael Poliza

Wagtails attacking their reflections

By Kakae Saiteu - Guide, Greystoke Mahale

In this flat beautiful bay where Greystoke Mahale camp is located; there are several species of birds. One fascinating species is the African pied wagtail. The African pied wagtail prefers wetland, rocky-river channel and sparsely vegetated sandy beaches beside large bodies of water. And of course they are well adapted to human modified habitats. This site where the camp is located is a perfect habitat to these birds.

African pied wagtail are territorial and become more so when in breeding season. One pair of this bird is now using Greystoke Mahale’s Mess building as a core of their territory. They are often seen perching on the roof or frames of the mess building, resting, scanning for intruders, which normally are conspecifics, or waiting to hawk or pick insects when spotted.

They have fascinating social behaviors. However, that of attacking their own reflected image from shining framed pictures of local chimpanzees, hanging from the mess building wall is inspiring. While sitting at the mess building, you can see this pair of birds attacking their reflections perceiving as intruders. They blow so hard and sometime fall to the ground as a result of that smash. Amazing these birds! Despite hard smashing, still go on doing it again until they got exhausted and leave. Next time they pass by and see the reflection the game starts once more.












Picture by Sonja Zweegers

Earth tremors in Mahale

By Lazaro George, Guide - Greystoke Mahale

Here in Mahale Mountains we are on the belt of the rift valley. Lake Tanganyika is formed by this rift in the earth. Either side of the lake, which is 50km wide, there are the same huge mountains as our Mahale mountains. The belt of this rift valley started far north in Jordan-Red sea-Ethiopia-Kenya where western and eastern rift valley started. The western valley comes down through Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to lake Tanganyika and joins with the eastern rift valley near the Tanzania and Malawi border. Then the valley goes farther down into Mozambique through lake Nyasa.

And now days, because we’re in this zone we feel it when earthquakes appear. Recently an earthquake appeared and it was night time and I was reviewing my notes in my note book. Ifeel like my tent vibrating and I had water bottle on my desk at the same time I saw water in the bottle vibrating too.

At the next morning I had other staff asking about it but some of them (including the sleepy managers) they could not feel any thing about. According to the people who are living at the nearest village, they wonder at our reaction because is really normal thing in this zone.

Waterfall walk

By Vianney J. Kabwine – Guide, Greystoke Mahale

Apart from chimpanzees viewing in Mahale National Park, there are other things that Greystoke Mahale offers to its guests. These other activities are like Fishing, Kayaks, Nature walk (looking for other primates) and boat ride for the sunset. During the dry season there is an amazing walk that people can do. If you take a boat to Kasiha ranger post which is on the north it’s almost 40 minutes from the shore and if you walk from Greystoke it’s about one hour and forty minutes to the magnificent waterfalls that is between the valleys of Mahale Mountains. Going through the bushes and following Mto Kasiha (River Kasiha) you have to step from rocks to rocks and sometimes you have to use your hands to pull up yourself from the rocks. Also this makes it an amazing walk.

There are swimming pools where a person can swim and enjoy the fresh water that comes from the mountains. You will be surprised to see the marking spots of Cape Clawless Otters. Cape Clawless Otter marks their home range by using their faeces and urine and this is seen full of crushed up crab shells on the rocks near the last waterfall.

Alpha male attacks his mother

By Gabriel L Mushi - Guide, Greystoke Mahale

Chimpanzees live in communities composed of adult males and females and their young. In Mahale M community we have 65 chimpanzees. They all recognize each other and respect each others rank. Here in Mahale the alpha male of M community is Pimu, a twenty one year old male. He is quite muscular and big and very aggressive compared with other males.

Pimu’s mother Fatuma is an old female now 47 years of age. As the community alpha male’s mother she deserves all the respect, care and protection from her son who is now the alpha male, for example access to food, high rank among other females and protection from aggression of other chimps, but under Pimu’s reign all this seems not to work toward her side. On 13th July I observed Pimu’s bad manners toward his mother. I was with two clients viewing a group of 8 chimps on Kambele Mountain. Pimu was grooming Bonobo (an adult male) and another female in the undergrowth while his mother Fatuma sat about 7m from them. All of the sudden they all get excited and started vocalizing and this led Pimu to perform a spectacular charging display, swaying in vines while heading where his mother was seating and attacked her vigorously, this led his mother to run away while screaming loudly.











Pimu

Warthogs and leopard in Mahale

By Mwiga Mambo- Tracker, Greystoke Mahale
It was 10th May 2009 around 7:10pm when I saw two warthogs heading northwards passing the clients kitchen. When they reached the firewood storage place they suddenly stopped and raised up their heads. I was so amazed because I thought they were frightened by our presence and normally they are very tame.

They stayed there for about 40 seconds looking on the northern side of the camp. I also tried to look on the direction they were looking but I saw nothing. Then the warthogs changed their directions and went to west like they were going to the beach. Two minute after they left the firewood storage place they came back at their initial place, still looking on the northern direction for about minute before they went away to the west. While I was looking at the place they were looking at before I suddenly saw a leopard in the bushes. He saw me and disappeared back into the bushes.


















Picture - Hugh Webster

Goliath herons in the Mahale Mountains

By Kakae Saiteu- Guide, Greystoke Mahale
Mahale mountains national park is famous for primates, especially chimpanzees which attract many people throughout the world to this area.

The Mahale ecosystem as a whole is also popular for birdlife. At this evergreen part of the forest where Greystoke Mahale is located, bird species are not as many as you will find further south where brachstegia trees are common. Nevertheless, while here one can see some of the waterfowl like Goliath herons, the world’s largest heron. These birds can be seen on the lake shores, particularly on the river mouths, stalking for their prey; fish, crabs and other invertebrates.

When flying the Goliath heron retracts their neck onto their shoulders. In this photo is the Goliath heron with awesome steep parts of the Mahale Mountains in the background.













Photo by Mary Henry - Guest at Greystoke Mahale.

Flavia takes care of her younger sister Fimbi

By Lazaro George – Guide, Greystoke Mahale

Last week, while walking in the forest heading south along a path known as R1, I came accross a small troop of chimpanzees. Among the troop were Fatuma, and her daughters Flavia (8 years old) and Fimbi (4 years old). We followed the troop for about 10 minutes until they stopped for a break.

Fimbi was playing with her mother Fatuma while Flavia played around them. When the troop started to move Fimbi jumped on her mother’s back while she was walking. After a short while Flavia caught up with the pair and walked along by their side and Fimbi jumped down from her mother’s back to the ground and then jumped up to her sister’s back. I walked with them for 15 minutes with Flavia still on her sister’s back, after which time the troop stopped and started to do grooming. The scene I witnessed reminded me of watching a young child taking care of her sibling.

Self treatment for parasites

By Suleman Juma, Tracker - Greystoke Mahale

Quite recently I watched a male chimpanzee, Carter, picking leaves from a fig tree, the ficus exasperata. He picked the leaves one at a time while sitting on a thick, forked branch of the tree. I watched him rolling the leaves strategically with the rough surface facing outward. He then put them straight into his mouth and swallowed with no apparent sign of chewing. He kept on doing that for about 8 minutes, before he climbed down out of the tree to join others who were busy grooming.
Chimpanzees normally eat these fig leaves in this way when feeling a stomach ache, related to an infestation of worms. The following day when I went tracking, I came along a fresh chimpanzees’ dung. Looking thoroughly into it, I could see a few worms attached to the unchewed rolled leaves. The dung had a wet urine mark beside it showing that it was fresh, but it could have been any chimpanzees within the community .
Roots of the ficus exasperata can cure stomach ache in humans. For years now local people around Mahale Mountains National Park have copied chimpanzees’ use of this plant, and have made decoctions from the ficus exasperata’s roots to cure stomach ache and worms.

Tracking chimpanzees in the Mahale mountains

From the Trackers of Greystoke Mahale

A Nomad tracker has the responsibility of tracking the habituated chimpanzees in Mahale for Greystoke’s visitors. The home range of these chimpanzees covers an area of just over 30 square miles, rising up from the lakeshore through tropical forest to 2,400 metres (around 7,800 feet).

On 13th of June we woke up early in the morning, ready to leave at first light at 7:00am to track the chimps. Normally in May and June it’s very tricky to find the chimps because food is scarce hence they are spread out through the forest. During these months they prefer higher parts of their home range so we normally go to the peak of the hills or mountains to try to listen to their calls as the sound can travel for up to 1 kilometer, making it easier for us to hear and follow them.

On this particular date we set up to the forest to track them, and went to Ihako valley where they prefer to visit at this time to feed on Canthium fruits, but we did not find them, not even the sign of their presence. So we went up to Kiboko Mountain which is in the south east of their home range. At this part of the forest the trails are gentle and not steep and the walk took us one hour. We heard the calls coming from Mkurume Mountain which is very steep and very hard to climb. We followed the calls for 45 minutes and found 6 chimps feeding on fruits; they moved to Nsansa valley which is north east of Mkurume and climbed Kambele Mountain which is south east of river Nsansa, going down the valley and climbing Kambele Mountain was very steep and we could hardly keep up with their speed.

In total it took us 2 and a half hours to find them. They found enough Canthium fruits in this area and started feeding again. On this mountain there are many fruit trees and we were certain that they were going to stay long without moving so we radioed back to the camp for the guide to bring our guests up the mountain to see them. They walked for almost two hours before they reached us, and spent close to one hour watching the group of chimpanzees.

Unique hunting techniques in Mahale

By Vianney Jacob, Guide - Greystoke Mahale

Tracking chimpanzees in the forest is a unique experience - waiting to hear their calls so that you know the direction to take to.follow them. Sometimes they will tend to be quiet, but that does not mean that they don’t want to disturb the forest….. but that they are busy doing something.

On 15th of March 2009 around 8:00 am, I talked to our trackers in Greystoke and they told me that they have found the chimpanzees and we should start our hike up the mountain. The forest was calm; we could only hear the songs of birds and not the strong voices of chimpanzees. We walked for sometime without hearing their voices, and then saw a group of red colobus moving from branch to branch and from one tree to another. We took our time with them for about 10 minutes watching their abilities of jumping. Then from nowhere a group of chimpanzees came past us and started a hunting technique that was amazing to watch.

We watched a group of big males together - Pimu, Darwin, Alofu and Kalunde with other females who were on the ground trying to make some noise so that they could scare the red colobus while another group of males - Primus, Cadmus, Carter and Fanana and others were hiding on the branches where the red colobus were jumping to. This group ambushed the red colobus and started jumping with them from tree to tree for almost 5 minutes. At this point Pimu thought that they didn’t get any colobus and he started to charge towards other chimps and slapping them.

A few trees from where Pimu was is where Cadmus was hiding, holding a young red colobus in his hand. Quietly he started eating the colobus. Bonobo joined him and he shared a piece of meat with him. Bonobo ate the portion that Cadmus gave him and he started begging for another one. After sometime Cadmus started fighting with Bonobo and he used the tail of the red colobus as a stick to hit Bonobo. Unfortunately then our one hour with them was over and we started our way back down the mountain.

Predatory chimps hunting yellow baboons

by Gabriel l Mushi, Guide - Greystoke Mahale

It was not until the early sixties when it was discovered in Gombe National Park by Jane Goodall that chimpanzees hunt and feed on the meat of other monkeys.

For the past nine months that I have been here in Mahale, I have observed several hunting scenes of chimpanzees hunting red colobus, most of which were not successful.

On 28th of Dec 2008 I was in the forest with five visitors viewing the chimpanzees. After about 15 minutes viewing them, the chimpanzees moved away through thick bush where we could not see them. In the process trying to follow and relocate them again, we saw tree branches shaking vigorously, with several chimpanzees running and leaping up an Anna tree [Faedherbia albida] with a lot of vocalization. Given the nature of the habitat, --’ thick bush with dense canopies’--we couldn’t tell what was going on at the time.

We went closer to where the branches were shaking and we encountered an awe-inspiring experience. The chimpanzees were hunting Yellow baboon. We saw two chimpanzees on one of the trees. They seemed to be seated on a day nest, picking leaves and eating them. Suddenly two other chimpanzees appeared, both adult males: the current alpha male Pimu in front, holding the carcass of a young Yellow baboon in his mouth, followed by another male---Fanana. He sat on a branch and ripped the carcass’s abdomen open, throwing the intestines away and feeding on other internal parts of the carcass.

From time to time he was seen picking Landopia vine’s leaves and eating them at the same time with the meat, probably to add flavor or aid in digesting. Fanana tried to beg meat from Pimu but he did not share it with him. Totsy, a female in estrous, with her son Teddy, followed Pimu at a close range while stretching their arms out, begging for meat, but neither did they succeed. Pimu finally climbed down from a tree and went away into a thick bush and the other chimpanzees followed him. At that point we were done with our one hour of viewing time and had to move on


Photographs taken by Y. de Jong & T.Butynski

Dear all
The Guides and Trackers of Greystoke Mahale are currently taking some well-earned leave, therefore they won't be posting on the blog for a short while. Please do keep checking back, as they will have lots of great new stories about the chimps and other animals of the Mahale Mountains.
If you have any queries about Greystoke, please do contact me on info@nomad.co.tz.
Cheers, Eliza/Nomad Tanzania

Food availability and its effects on chimp behaviour

By Kakae Saiteu, Guide - Greystoke Mahale.

From January all through to April is a time when chimpanzees’ foods, mostly fruits, are quite scarce. At this time of the year they tend not to vocalize, unlike from June through to December when food is in abundance. This sort of behaviour ensures that individuals, and their close relatives, have enough food before attracting the attention of other distantly related individuals. At this time of the year chimpanzees tend to live and walk in smaller groups of family members or few friends.

Vocalizing normally is a sign for alerting and summoning individuals. It is considered a lucky day, at this time of the year, to hear them vocalizing - there could be a female in estrus accompanied by several males; or several families or friends may have coincidently met and got excited. Since vocalization (normally an easy way for locating chimpanzees) is not reliable at this time of year, trackers and guides more than ever use animal’s signs such as tracks, feces and fruit peels or freshly eaten fruits to locate the chimpanzees.

To increase the chances of picking up some of these signs involves visiting sites, named ‘gardens’, where there are plants in fruit or whose leaves are eaten as food by chimpanzees. At these sites there is a chance of finding individuals grooming, if it is late morning, and others relishing on the fruits and leaves available such as the fruits of the Cordia plant, the wild grape












and so forth, which are less favoured from June through to December when fruits are in abundance.

Picture by Giselle Lucches.
Acadia, a sub-adult female, on a tree’s branch at one of the “Garden sites” feeding on mature wild grape fruits, while a few other individuals are grooming on the ground nearby.

Chimpanzee medicine

By Lazaro George, Guide - Greystoke Mahale

The M-community’s home range in Mahale is extremely rich in vegetation, which allows the chimpanzees to be in good health throughout the year. Their home range is about 167 square km and in this area there are more than five hundred and fifty flora and fauna species of which three hundred and twenty of them are used by the chimpanzees as food; this includes leaves, fruits, flowers, bucks, saps or roots. One hundred and twenty six of these species are also used as medicine by the chimpanzees.

On the 14th January 09 I took six clients for chimpanzee viewing. We had very good time with twenty two chimpanzees. One of them was Rubicon who came across us and sat about 12 meters away from where we were. She was looking around, without us knowing what she was looking at. Three minutes later she went into the bush and she came back on the path with a branch of Aspilia in her hand. She sat down and started to pick off the Aspilia’s leaves and put them in her mouth without chewing. She repeated that three times, folding the leaves with her tongue and swallowing them. She did that for almost ten minutes and then got up and followed the other chimpanzees. Aspilia leaves are thought to be one of the medicinal plants taken by chimpanzees, used to combat worms in the stomach.

Baby chimps at play

By Vianney J. Kabwine, Guide - Greystoke Mahale

On the 14th of February with 4 guests, we left camp at around 8:30am. We took a boat up to Sinsiba bay which is few hundred meters north of Greystoke camp and then hiked into the forest a little way. We encountered a group of 4 female chimpanzees feeding on Cordia millenii fruits.

We spent 10 minutes with the first group then our Tracker led us to another group of 4 females with babies that were on the other side of the tree. While the mothers, Canato and Abi were resting on a day resting nest, their babies, Agano (Abi’s baby, who is 4 years old) and Canato`s as yet un-named baby (9 months) were busy playing and jumping from one branch to another. They were playing and hanging between branches, whilst holding hands and legs together. At one point, Agano tried to bite Canato`s baby so that she would fall from the branch that she was holding on. Then they all went where their mothers were resting and joined them on the nest. They played with their mothers for some time, before leaving them to play together as before.

After playing for a while, they went back to their mothers and climbed on their backs. The mothers then joined the first group of females and started walking towards Sinsiba camp. At this point they all went into a swamp area where we were unable to follow. This kind of playing normally occurs at a time when the mothers are resting. During this kind of playing, the babies usually practice what they have observed adults doing, like fishing for black ants, and hanging from branch to branch. In the future this will help them to know which branch to hold on to at what time, or where to swing to when they are moving from one tree to another.