Title
Home range estimations and site fidelity of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in the Ndoki Forest [Conference Poster]
Author(s)
Judson, K.;Morgan, D.;Massamba, J. M.;Ebombi, F.;Teberd, P.;Abea, G.;Magema, E.;Mbeboute, G.;Ortega, J.;Kienast, I.;Sanz, C.
Published
2020
Publisher
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Abstract
There are few studies on western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) ranging patterns and most are descriptive, single group investigations. We calculated home range size and fidelity of three groups from two field sites in northern Republic of Congo to implement comparative averages for western lowland gorillas. GPS coordinates were collected at the start of each gorilla group follow from 2015 to 2018. Range estimations were calculated using 90% Kernel Density Estimations, with site fidelity measured by general percent overlap among years for each group. The average home range was 5.82+1.88km2 with a range of 2.98-8.89km2. The overall percent range overlap year to year was 87.22+12.78%. Overall, the ranges of these groups was smaller than previously published ranges for western lowland gorillas, including an estimate from one of our study groups assessed earlier in the silverback’s tenure. Year to year overlap was higher in our study compared to those published for mountain gorillas, which fits previous findings that western lowland gorillas have higher site fidelity than their mountain counterparts. Toward explaining differences between studies, we compare reported range estimates and methodologies. Our study provides a preliminary framework to understand general patterns of gorilla ranging as well as intra-specific variation across different habitats in the Congo Basin.
Keywords
Anthropology;Evolutionary Biology
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