March 21, 2003
Contact: Crickette Sanz (314-664-8363)
ST. LOUIS - It’s astonishing to find a place on the globe
that has been free from all human contact. But, a Central Washington
University graduate has been studying wild chimpanzees in just such a
place, in central Africa’s “Goualougo Triangle.”
Crickette Sanz, a native of Bow, Wash., earned her bachelor’s
degree in psychology (magna cum laude) in 1997 and her master’s degree
in experimental psychology in 1999 from CWU, where she also served as
an assistant at the university’s Chimpanzee and Human Communication
Institute (CHCI).
Now a doctoral candidate in anthropology at Washington
University in St. Louis, Sanz went to the remote location —34 miles
away from the nearest village — to study chimpanzees in the wild, along
with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) field researcher Dave Morgan,
the founder of the study site.
The WCS goal was to keep researchers out of the central
African rain forests for as long as possible. But, when the pristine
forests of the Goualougo Triangle and its chimpanzees were threatened
by logging, Morgan was sent in to document the biological significance
of the area.
Based on their experiences, Sanz and Morgan wrote an article
that is published in the April issue of the “International Journal of
Primatology.”
“During our research, we never encountered any other humans
or even their traces, such as villages, campsites or paths,” Sanz says.
“Because of low human density in the northern Congo and the remote
location of the Goualougo Triangle, it’s unlikely that these
chimpanzees had ever encountered humans.”
Typically, chimps in the wild need to be habituated to the
presence of humans, which is a process that can take years. But,
instead of running and hiding, these chimps stared, crouched and moved
closer to get a better view, slapped tree trunks or threw branches down
to get a response and made inquisitive vocalizations.
While conducting their on-going research, Sanz and Morgan
minimize their presence in the forest as much as possible.
“Our camp is very basic and consists of only a few tents,”
Sanz notes. “We do not cut additional trails in the forests, but
instead followed existing animal paths and only use pruning shears to
cut back vegetation. And also, we have very strict protocols for
observing the chimpanzees.”
After discovering this naive chimpanzee population and their
trust in humans -- as well as having other naive contacts with other
primate species like gorillas and monkeys that could also be vulnerable
to poachers and logging -- Sanz says there is an obligation to ensure
the long-term protection for the area.
These encounters with the chimps now put the Goualougo
Triangle at the top of the WCS list of priority conservation projects,
according to Morgan. More information about the WCS conservation work
in central Africa is available at www.wcs-congo.org.
