Hunting of mammalian prey by Budongo Forest Chimpanzees

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) predation has been found in communities across Africa. Little evidence of such behaviour has been previously reported from the Budongo Forest, western Uganda. Here we present preliminary observations of predatory behaviour for the Sonso community, collected between August 1994 and February 2002. We find that the Sonso chimpanzees do not appear to hunt frequently, despite a relatively high density of potential prey, particularly Colobus guereza and Cercopithecus mitis. They seem similar to other eastern chimpanzees in their focus on immature colobus monkeys and in targeting ungulates, and the absence of red colobus (Procolobus badius) - the most common prey species elsewhere for chimpanzees - may be a significant factor.