Chimpanzees of the Budongo Forest : Ecology, Behaviour, and Conservation

(Tina Sui) #1
Intestinal parasites 39

to age, sex and dominance rank. Female chimpanzees had higher levels of infection than
male chimpanzees; levels of helminth infection decreased with age; and subordinate
chimpanzees had higher levels of infection than dominant chimpanzees.
Like Kalema, Barrows points out that heavy infestation of helminths can produce
severe diarrhoea, but this was not seen in the Sonso population during this study
(although occasionally it does occur). She also notes that a severe reaction to migrating
larvae in the lungs can produce pneumonia and suggests that this may be a possible
cause for the coughing that occasionally occurs. Tapeworms and hookworms can like-
wise cause damage but levels of infection appear to be under control at Sonso. More
helminthic parasites were found in chimpanzees and baboons than in the other primates
studied, which may be because they spend more time on the ground. Frequencies
of parasites in the human sample were all extremely low. Strongyloides, found by


Table 3.1: Rates of infection found by Kalema in Sonso
chimpanzees.
Parasite Per cent infected
(N28)
Oesophagostomum stephanostomum 82.1
Strongyloides fulleborni 64.3
Both the above 57.1

Fig. 3.1: Gladys Kalema examining chimpanzee faeces at Sonso.

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