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Chimpanzees of Senegal
Falémé Chimpanzee Conservation Project
Chimpanzee populations across Central and West Africa are continuing to decline at an alarming rate. Even though they can be found in 21 countries, severely fragmented habitat across their range has separated the majority of the population into smaller sub-populations. Deforestation, hunting for the commercial bushmeat trade, and killing the adults to capture the infants continue to be a major threat to the chimpanzee.
The Houston Zoo is curently supporting part of a long-term study into the conservation of the West African Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) population in southeastern Senegal. The initial phase of the project will provide an assessment of chimpanzee communities in the Karakaene and Koudekourou areas, which are adjacent to the borders of Mali and Guinea.
To protect chimpanzees in Senegal through research, education and collaboration
The Falémé Chimpanzee Conservation Project (FCCP) began in 2010 in response to increased mining activity in the chimpanzee habitat of south-eastern Senegal. West African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are an endangered species that have already been extirpated in Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso, and now face the same risk in Senegal where their numbers linger in the hundreds. The FCCP focuses on chimpanzee communities living in the Falémé region of Senegal, which has been targeted by multinational mining corporations for both gold and iron ore. The precious metals also attract local communities whose artisanal mining activities employ the poisonous chemical mercury to separate gold from ore. Both large-scale open pit mines and local artisanal mines incite habitat disturbance, degradation and destruction and threaten the country's remaining chimpanzee population, intensifying the need for conservation efforts in the region.
It is not possible to consider the elimination of mining in Senegal, as the industry has the potential to better the country's economy and reduce poverty at a local level, if managed appropriately. The most viable strategy now is to understand the effects mining has on the habitat and chimpanzee populations in Senegal and thus mitigate negative impacts. By working with the local communities, national and local government agencies, private mining industries and conservation organizations to establish sustainable and environmentally sound practices, we can conserve and protect the chimpanzees and the habitat in which they live.
The West African chimpanzees of Senegal exhibit unique cultural behaviors not seen in other chimpanzee 
populations. For example, at the Fongoli field site, 75km southwest of Karakaene, the chimpanzees have been observed using caves, soaking in pools of water, and taking part in “tool-assisted” (spears) hunting of mammals. It is important to understand whether or not such apparently unique behaviors among chimpanzees are characteristic of only the Fongoli chimpanzees or if these behaviors extend throughout the region suggesting possible cultural transmission across populations.
populations. For example, at the Fongoli field site, 75km southwest of Karakaene, the chimpanzees have been observed using caves, soaking in pools of water, and taking part in “tool-assisted” (spears) hunting of mammals. It is important to understand whether or not such apparently unique behaviors among chimpanzees are characteristic of only the Fongoli chimpanzees or if these behaviors extend throughout the region suggesting possible cultural transmission across populations. 
