Habituation of Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) of the South Group at Taï Forest, Côte d’Ivoire: Empirical Measure of Progress

Abstract

The last part of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) habituation process of the Taï South Group was monitored over 2 years (1994–1996), during which all males and most of the females became habituated to observation by humans. The time needed (5–7 years) to habituate the community was similar to that recorded for the Taï North Group and is comparable to other populations studied in Africa. Variation emerged in habituation rate: males were habituated earlier than females, and among females, sexually cycling individuals were habituated faster than non-cycling females. Such differences may be a function of both the methods used to find the chimpanzees and the sex of the individual. Reproductive status and individuality may also have influenced habituation rates by affecting the number of contacts required to habituate a chimpanzee to neutral humans.