My main research interests include wildlife-human resource competition with a special focus on primate-human conflict mitigation and great ape rehabilitation and reintroduction. I also aim to pursue research into the links between primate conservation, society and development, especially large-scale extractive industrial activities.

I also nourish a keen interest in the study of learning and culture in non-human animals, with a special focus on primates, the respective roles of the social and physical environment on learning in young, inter- and intra community behavioural differences in chimpanzees, behavioural ecology and cognition.

I have been conducting fieldwork on wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa since 1995, and work on captive cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) from 2003-2005.

Since 2007, I have been acting as scientific advisor and research coordinator to the Chimpanzee Conservation Center, the only chimpanzee sanctuary in Guinea, located in the High Niger National Park.

I am a member of the executive committee of the IUCN (The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Great Ape Conservation section of the Primate Specialist Group and the GRASP (The Great Apes Survival Partnership, UNEP) scientific commission.

back to top

Selected Publications

Humle, T., Colin, C., Laurans, M. & Raballand, E. (2011). Group Release of Sanctuary Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Haut Niger National Park, Guinea, West Africa: Ranging Patterns and Lessons So Far. International Journal of Primatology 32: 456-473.

Matsuzawa, T., Humle, T. & Sugiyama Y. (eds) (2011). The Chimpanzees of Bossou and Nimba. Springer-Verlag Tokyo.

Biro, D., Humle, T., Koops, K., Sousa, C., Hayashi, M. & Matsuzawa, T. (2010). Chimpanzee mothers at Bossou, Guinea carry the mummified remains of their dead infants. Current Biology 20: R351-352.

Humle, T., Snowdon, C.T. & Matsuzawa, T. (2009). Social influences on ant-dipping acquisition in the wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) of Bossou Guinea, West Africa. Animal Cognition. DOI 10.1007/s10071-009-0272-6

Hockings, K. & Humle, T. (2009). Best Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Mitigation of Conflict between Great Apes and Humans. Gland, Switzerland: SSC Primate Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union: http://www.primate-sg.org/PDF/BP.conflict.pdf

 

Full list of publications

back to top

Academic year 2012-13:

Convening a new programme: MSc in Conservation and Primate Ecology and also the BSc in Wildlife Conservation

My teaching will include:

• SE302 Foundations of Human Culture
• SE306 Anthropology and Animals, Plants and People: An Introduction to Ethnobiology
• DI531 - Human Wildlife Conflict and Resource Competition (convenor)
• DI884 - Research Methods for Natural Sciences
• DI892 - Current Issues in Primate Conservation (convenor)

back to top

Great ape rehabilitation and reintroduction

The chimpanzee sanctuary in the ‘Parc National du Haut Niger’ (PNHN) in Guinea is managed by the Chimpanzee Conservation Center (CCC), a founding member of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA). The CCC currently holds 37 chimpanzees, primarily all victims of the pet trade. The PNHN, which extends over c. 10,000 km2, is one of the last remaining important formations of dry forest-savanna mosaic in West Africa and a site of high conservation value for both ungulates and wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). This park also harbours leopards (Panthera pardus) and a small remnant population of lions (P. leo). Based upon the IUCN reintroduction guidelines, PASA approved the release of a group of 12 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) from the CCC in the PNHN. These chimpanzees were released in June 2008, 32 km from the sanctuary. A further 5 chimpanzees were added to the core release group in August 2011.

My role as scientific advisor and research coordinator with the CCC focuses primarily on the following three areas:

• Evaluation of rehabilitation and release procedures
• Post-release monitoring employing sophisticated tracking systems
• Evaluation of conservation impact of the release program on the PNHN

I ultimately wish to strengthen my collaboration with PASA member-sanctuaries and potentially other primate sanctuaries in South-East Asia. This project would ultimately aim to compile available data on rehabilitation and reintroduction procedures and the impact on protected areas and wildlife conservation of primate sanctuary activities.

Principle Collaborators:

• The Chimpanzee Conservation Center, Guinea, West Africa (Estelle Raballand, CCC and PPI Director; Matthieu Laurens, CCC Principle Manager, Christelle Colin, PPF Director and Veterinarian)
• Projet Primates France (PPF)- http://www.projetprimatesfrance.org/
• Project primate Inc. (PPI)- http://www.projectprimate.org/
• Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA)- http://pasaprimates.org/

 

Wildlife-Human Conflict with a special focus on great apes

• Assessment of global and local variables exacerbating human-great ape conflict (proposal).

This project aims to collate and amass data on conflict issues, including competition for resources and space and instances of aggression, in addition to ecological and social variables on the great ape populations concerned, as well as agricultural and natural resource exploitation by humans, infrastructure development, human density, culture and religious beliefs and perceptions of conflict, and direct and indirect costs and losses across varying locations. By using GIS and multivariate analysis techniques, these data will ultimately serve to evaluate determinants of conflict and serve as a guide for the development and testing of mitigation and prevention strategies in great ape range countries.

• Evaluation of the impact of environmental education and sustainable development initiatives on great ape conservation (proposal)

A project aimed at evaluating environmental education and sustainable development initiatives in the context of occurrences of chimpanzee-human conflict and local people’s perception of conservation could help further develop locally adapted conservation strategies and initiatives. Such kinds of studies are especially relevant to countries, such as Guinea and Sierra Leone, where the majority of great ape populations reside outside protected areas and chimpanzee-human resource competition is prevalent.

Principle Collaborators:

• Kyoto University Primate Research Institute (KUPRI), Japan and the Institut de Recherche Environnementale de Bossou (IREB), Guinea-Bossou/Nimba Project- http://www.greenpassage.org/chimp/indexE.html
• Tacugama Wildlife Sanctuary, Sierra Leone- http://www.tacugama.com/

back to top

Lucy d’Auvergne, PhD Student, 2011-ongoing (joint supervision with Dr. Helen Newing): Investigation into the relationship between commercial development and chimpanzee conservation in the Diecke Forest, Guinea, West Africa.

Melissa Ongman, Masters by research, 2011-ongoign: Behavioural evaluation of rehabilitated orphan chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at the Chimpanzee Conservation Center, Haut Niger National Park, Guinea, West Africa

back to top

Conference Talks: European Federation of Primatology Congress, Almada,Portugual, 14-17th September 2011. Talk: "The Chimpanzee Conservation Center in the High Niger National Park, Guinea: monitoring of a release project with the help of GPS technology"

Member of:

• Scientific Commission of GRASP (Great Apes Survival Partnership, UNEP)
• Executive Committee of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group section on Great Apes
• Representative of the Societé Francophone de Primatologie-SFDP to the European Federation of primatology-EFP
• Education Committee of the International Primatological Society-IPS
• Ad Hoc Committee resulting from an IPS (International Primatological Society) roundtable on Primate Conservation and Poverty
• International Primatological Society (IPS), American Society of Primatologists (ASP), Primate Society of Great Britain (PSGB), Societé Francophone de Primatologie (SFDP), European Federation of Primatology (EFP), the Leakey Foundation, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB)

back to top