Gorillas habituated to human presence, Keseke and Paki-Paki, scratch the soil for a purpose that has long remained unclear.
Credit: Guilhem Duvot/WCS
A recently published paper reveals that soil scratching by gorillas in Congo's Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is a foraging strategy to access a species of deer truffle, identified as Elaphomyces labyrinthinus, and not insects, as long assumed.
These findings were developed by Gaston Abea, who became the first Indigenous person in Ndoki to become the lead author of a peer-reviewed scientific paper.
This truffle gorilla foraging behavior seems to have social implications: While not all gorilla groups engage in it, some individuals may give it up or resume it when they migrate from one group to another, allowing for more insights into their social structure.
Abea drew on his traditional knowledge and tracking skills to document this behavior in detail. After a decade of observations, Abea and research teams at Mondika and Goualougo field stations were able to eventually collect specimens of the food item foraged by the gorillas scratching the ground for taxonomic identification.
"My people's traditional knowledge of these forests is endangered by modern lifestyles but is proving invaluable in continuing to study and preserve these ecosystems," said Abea.
Abea is one of a 100+ Congolese Research Assistants trained at Ndoki since 2005, a growing number of whom come from neighboring villages, and from Indigenous Ba'Aka communities.
"Our ancestors used to hunt gorillas, now we protect them, and I hope to inspire other Ba'Akas to do the same," said Abea.
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Soil scratching by Jeanne, a female western lowland gorilla in the Goualougo Triangle.
As shown in (top photo), soil scratching or soil sifting occurs when a gorilla uses their hands to upturn and push away the forest leaf litter to expose the underlying soil, roots, and objects (such as deer truffles) embedded in this matrix.
We defined a successful foraging bout when an individual ceased soil scratching to bring the hand that was scratching soil from the ground to their mouth (bottom photo).
Importantly, the fingers of the hand are pinched together such as to hold a small round object.
Photo: Sean Brogan, GTAP/WCS Credit: Primates (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10329-024-01151-7
Born in Bomassa, the closest village to the park, Abea is of the semi-nomadic Bangombe people. He has been working for the park since 2000 in various capacities. His dedication and eagerness to learn led him to progress steadily and become co-author of seven peer-reviewed scientific papers.
"This is Gaston's first article as lead author, a milestone for his career, and for our capacity-building efforts: he is the first research assistant of Indigenous People's origin to become first author, in the Ndoki landscape," said WCS partnering conservationist David Morgan of the Lincoln Park Zoo, researcher at both research sites involved in the findings.
The article was part of a Special Issue of the journal Primates, dedicated to "Twenty-five years of primate research in the Ndoki forest." Abea's efforts to identify key areas for gorilla truffle feeding at Mondika prompted the shift to potential locations of tourism-related infrastructure to safeguard this behavior.
Most significantly, his findings were included in an ecological impact assessment of the Djéké Triangle, where the Mondika Research Station is located, which provided the evidence for the land management decision-making process that resulted in the inclusion of the Djéké Triangle in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in 2023.
"This is Gaston's first article as lead author, a milestone for his career, and for our capacity-building efforts: he is the first research assistant of Indigenous People's origin to become first author, in the Ndoki landscape," said WCS partnering conservationist David Morgan of the Lincoln Park Zoo, researcher at both research sites involved in the findings.
The article was part of a Special Issue of the journal Primates, dedicated to "Twenty-five years of primate research in the Ndoki forest." Abea's efforts to identify key areas for gorilla truffle feeding at Mondika prompted the shift to potential locations of tourism-related infrastructure to safeguard this behavior.
Most significantly, his findings were included in an ecological impact assessment of the Djéké Triangle, where the Mondika Research Station is located, which provided the evidence for the land management decision-making process that resulted in the inclusion of the Djéké Triangle in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in 2023.
Morgan said, "This is an exciting finding for our understanding of gorilla foraging behavior, and we found indications of social implications of soil scratching within groups. For example, an adult female emigrated from one gorilla group where this behavior was rare to one where it was nearly a daily occurrence, and modified her habits."
"This paper shows how much traditional ecological knowledge, scientific research, and conservation can benefit from each other," said Dr. Sydney Ndolo, former researcher assistant in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, now lecturer and professor of Botany at the Université Marien Ngouabi in Brazzaville.
Dr. Ndolo is the second author of the paper. He added, "Local cultures will only survive if they are properly valued, and research is an important means of achieving this."
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