Inferring the Geographic Origins of “Refugee” Chimpanzees in Uganda from Mitochondrial DNA Sequences

Abstract

Wild chimpanzee populations in Africa are rapidly declining due to deforestation, mining, and other practices that destroy chimpanzee habitat (Hamilton 1981; Struhsaker 1981; Hamilton 1984; Weber 1987; Teleki 1989; Howard 1991; Harcourt 1996). The hunting of chimpanzees for food and for trade on the international pet market exacerbates this trend. The pet trade has been particularly damaging; at least 10 chimpanzee infants die for every one that survives to its final destination (Teleki 1989). A secondary consequence of these threats is the proliferation of refugee chimpanzee populations. Increasing numbers of confiscated chimpanzees are being crowded into underftnded zoos and rehabilitation centers. In most countries in which chimpanzees live, conservation resources are desperately scarce. Knowing the principal areas from which chimpanzees are being captured could help governments direct conservation efforts and distribute law-enforcement resources optimally. Determining the origins of captive chimpanzees could also help with reintroduction efforts. Reintroduction is generally problematic (Campbell 1980) and is relatively unexplored as a prospect for chimpanzees. Nevertheless, individuals could in theory be reintroduced to their natal populations if these could be determined. More realistically, entire captive populations could be relocated to islands or to ecologically suitable but unoccupied mainland habitats (e.g., forests from which chimpanzees have become extinct). Knowing the geographic origins of captive chimpanzees would be invaluable for