![]() ![]() Baseline prevalence of clinical signs of ill health and patterns of parasitism are necessary to understand both individual animal health status as well as for the assessment of potential ‘outbreaks’: a level of disease or parasitism in excess of what is normally observed. However, despite almost 50 years of systematic collection of behavioral and life history data on these chimpanzees, there has been little standardized diagnostic data collected for baseline health monitoring. The chimpanzees of Gombe National Park are arguably the best documented wild ape population ( Pusey et al., 2007). This coupled with the significant interannual and interseasonal variation, demonstrated in this study, emphasizes the importance of multiyear monitoring with adequate sample size to effectively determine patterns of parasitism in wild primate populations. Parasite prevalence and richness were substantially higher in this multiyear study compared with previous short-term studies of the gastrointestinal parasites of Gombe chimpanzees. bütschlii were higher in males than in females. No significant differences were observed between males and females in prevalence in 2006. Subadult chimpanzees had lower prevalence for most parasite species compared with adults in both years and also yielded a lower average parasite species richness. Prevalence of several parasites was strongly correlated with monthly rainfall patterns for both 20. Intercommunity comparisons demonstrated higher prevalence of parasites for the Mitumba compared with Kasekela chimpanzee community. Significant differences were observed in interannual infection prevalence and parasite richness between 20. Seventeen parasite species were recovered, including eight nematodes ( Oesophagostomum sp., Necator sp., Probstmayria gombensis, Strongyloides fulleborni, Ascaris sp., Trichuris sp., Abbreviata caucasica, and an unidentified strongyle), 1 cestode ( Bertiella sp.), 1 trematode (Dicrocoeliidae), and 7 protozoa ( Entamoeba coli, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, Iodamoeba bütschlii, Troglodytella abrassarti, Troglocorys cava, Balantidium coli, and an unidentified protozoa). From January 2006 to January 2008, we collected 1,045 fecal samples from 90 individually-recognized, free-ranging, eastern chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) inhabiting Gombe National Park, Tanzania to determine how patterns of parasitism are affected by demographic and ecological covariates. ![]()
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