Some Help From the Competition

A fair amount of my time at Gombe is spent in the forest looking for chimpanzees. I record health observations when I come upon a target, but ultimately I want fecal samples from the 28 animals on my list. Back at the lab, we can extract hormones from the samples and ship them to Lincoln Park Zoo for analysis. It’s amazing how much information you can get about the status of an individual (and its parasites) non-invasively!

I, however, am not the only one who wants these fecal samples. The insects in the photo above are my greatest competition: dung beetles. At Gombe they come in all colors and sizes, from bright, metallic green ones less than inch long to dull black mammoths three inches in length!

You’ll really notice the beetles when they have dung to find. Within a few seconds of a chimpanzee’s bowel movement, you can hear the unmistakable buzzing of at least one dung beetle flying through the air in search for food. Let a minute or two pass, and a swarm of the insects will be in a flurry of activity, shaping pieces of the fecal matter into little balls for easy transport and rolling them away.

Sometimes having the dung beetles around can be very helpful. Just the other day, one of my targets, Glitter, was chased by Apollo, and we were sure there was a fecal sample somewhere! Amri and one of the other sample collectors set about searching for it while I kept my eye on another target.

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, I thought I’d better join in and help. As I was walking over I heard a faint hum nearby. I looked around, spotted the dung beetle responsible and watched as it flew through the air, maneuvered into place and dropped straight down to the ground from a few feet up.

Sure enough, it had led me to the sample in question! I’m not sure Amri and Sampson knew I was following a dung beetle, but they were definitely surprised when I found what they were looking for so fast!

In exchange for their beetles leading me to my work, I always try to leave as much of the sample as I can for them.

Emma Lantz