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

(Tina Sui) #1

44 Morbidity and mortality


a protozoan species,Troglodytella abrassarti. Details of the above studies and of the
physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of termite soil are described in
Tweheyo et al. (in press). Termite soil is rich in iron, and consists of very fine particles
of pharmaceutical grade clay mineral belonging to the kaolinite, halloysite and meta-
halloysite group. It may thus be that in eating termite mound soil chimpanzees are
mirroring the behaviour of human beings who take kaolin as a cure for diarrhoea and
other digestive upsets. An additional possibility that remains to be investigated is that
there may be microbial materials in the ingested soil, located on the inside of the cham-
bers of the termite mounds, that are important pharmaceutically.


SIVcpz status of the Sonso chimpanzees


During 2003, we were invited to join a project analysing urine and faecal samples to
determine the SIVcpz status of East African chimpanzees of the subspecies Pa n
troglodytes schweinfurthii. SIVcpz is the immediate precursor of human immunodefi-
ciency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and may indeed be the source of this virus. The study was
part of an ongoing project to determine the SIVcpz status of chimpanzees in E. Africa.
Prior studies had included Kibale National Park where 31 members of the Kanyawara


Fig. 3.4: Part of a Budongo Forest termite mound with termites (Cubitermes speciosus). Mnason
Tweheyo observed soil and termites being eaten from this mound in September 2001 (photo: V.R.).

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