Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania

The information on this page was compiled specifically for this site. Kyoto University has its own web site for Mahale Mountains. It is one of the only field sites with a web page, and is included here for your reference.

Brief History

The following chronology is summarised from Nishida, T. (1990). Kyoto University has also compiled its own chronology at: Chronology of Research at Mahale to 1995.

1961: Japanese studies in the area began with Kinji Imanishi and Junichiro Itani. Imanishi organized the Kyoto University Africa Primatological Expedition (KUAPE)
He set out to study chimpanzees along at Kabogo Point along Lake Tanganyika.
He then moved the base camp to Kasakati
In 1965 Itani took over and established two more camps at Filabanga and Mahale.
Itani selected 3 methods for habituating chimpanzees: 1) habituation by T. Kano at Filabanga; 2)impressing by K. Izawa at Kasakati; and 3)provisioning by T. Nishida at Mahale.
1965 Itani and 1967 Suzuki observed as many as 47 chimpanzees traveling in a single file at Filabanga
After unsuccessful attempts at habituating chimpanzees at Filabanga, Kano began to study chimpanzee distribution
Izawa adopts an infant chimpanzees in an effort to allay the wild chimpanzees fears of humans - it too, was unsuccessful
Nishida was successful with provisioning
1967: Kabogo, Kasakati and Filabanga were permanently closed.
1975: Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) begins sending primatologists to Mahale as Game (Wildlife) Research Officers.
1975: The Mahale Mountains Chimpanzee Research Project began, as well as the Kasoje Chimpanzee Research Station (KCRS) established by the Tanzanian government
1977: Agriculture banned in the Kasoje area
1979: KCRS was reorganized as one of the centers of the Serengeti Wildlife Research Institute (SWRI) and newly christened the Mahale Mountains Wildlife Reserach Centre (MMWRC).
1985: Mahale Mountains National Park established as the first "foot-walking" National Park of Tanzania.

Primary source for the following Site Data is McGrew et. al. (1996), Great Ape Societies (Cambridge University Press), Appendix.

Site Data

Name:	Mahale Mountains Wildlife Research Centre
Location:	Tanzania, Kigoma Region, 6° 07' S 29° 44' E
Status:	National Park
Area:	1613km²
Altitude:	773-2515m
Temp:	18.3°C and 29°C - Kansyana 20.7°C and 30.2°C - Myako 19.5°C and 29.7°C - Bilenge
Rainfall:	1836mm (1975-1988) 1835.5mm (1973-88) Kansyana Camp 1774.0mm (1976-84) Myako Camp 1419.0mm (1978-82) Bilenge
Vegetation Vegetation 1(41K) Vegetation 2 (36K):	Tropical semi-evergreen forest, miombo woodland. (1) Based on Nishida & Uehara, 1981 & 1983. (2) Based on Wrangham, nd.
Human influence:	Provisioning 1966-87 Disturbance ratings -- 1, 2, 1, 2, 1
Closest village:	20km
Species studied:	P. t. schweinfurthii
Population Density (6K):	0.35 - 0.45 individuals per km² for whole park 5.4 - 5.8 per km² for K & M groups (See link for other figures)
Fauna (14K):	Click here for fauna list, mostly mammals, other contributions welcome!
Study period:	1965-present
Habituation:	Excellent
Research presence:	Permanent
Conservation:	Ecotourism
Current research:	Social relationships, hunting, feeding ecology, tool-using, zoopharmacognosy, vocal communication
Methods:	Focal-subject sampling
Contact person:	Toshisada Nishida, Dept of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan 606
Habitat photos	A selection of photos illustrating habitat and location.
Maps	Topographic maps.
Aerial photos	Vertical and oblique aerial photos.
Bibliography 1:	Link to Mahale Home Page's list of English publications to 1995 (by Kyoto University)
Bibliography 2:	Compiled for this site
Miscellaneous	Related links

Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania

Brief History

Site Data

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