Territory characteristics among three neighboring chimpanzee communities in the Tai National Park, Cote d'Ivoire

We studied territory characteristics among three neighboring chimpanzee com munities in the Tai National Park, Cote d'lvoire, and compared them with ot her chimpanzee populations We characterized territories and ranging pattern s by analyzing six variables: (1) territory size, (2) overlap zone, (3) ter ritory utilization, (4) core area, (5) territory shift, and (6) travel dist ance. Data collection covered a period of IO mo, during which we simultaneo usly sampled the local positions of mostly large parties, including males i n each community, in 30-min intervals In Tai; chimpanzees used territories in a clumped way, with small central core areas being used preferentially o ver large peripheral areas Although overlap zones between study communities mainly represented infrequently visited peripheral areas overlap zones wit h all neighboring communities also included intensively used central areas. Territory utilization was not strongly seasonal, with no major shift of ac tivity center or shift of areas used over consecutive months. However, we o bserved shorter daily travel distances in times of low food availability Te rritory sizes of Tai chimpanzees tended to be larger than territories in ot her chimpanzee communities, presumably because high food availability allow s for economical defense of territorial borders and time investment in terr itorial activities. Therefore we suggest, that use of territory in Tai chim panzees is strongly influenced by intercommunity relations To understand di fferences in territory characteristics between various populations, it is o f major importance to consider not only the intracommunity but also the int ercommunity context.