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Ant eating by eastern lowland gorillas |
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| Authors: | Juichi Yamagiwa Ndunda Mwanza Takakazu Yumoto Tamaki Maruhashi |
| Institution: | 1. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, 484, Aichi, Japan 2. Centre de Recherches en Sciences Naturelles, Lwiro, D.S. Bukavu, Za?re, Japan 3. College of Liberal Arts, Kobe University, Nada, 657, Kobe, Japan 4. Department of Human and Cultural Sciences, Musashi University, Toyotamakami, Nerima, 176, Tokyo, Japan |
| Abstract: | Evidence was obtained that Eastern lowland gorillas feed regularly on ants in the lowland forests of eastern Zaire. The six species of ants that may have been consumed by the gorillas were identified as Ponerinae, which possess a painful sting. Gorillas consumed the ants in both rainy and dry seasons, and fragments of ants were found in fecal samples from gorillas of all age-sex classes. Field signs indicated that the gorillas search intensively ants in primary and ancient secondary forests. Such searching may stimulate the gorillas to range through various types of vegetation and, thus, it may contribute to elongation of the distances that they travel daily. |
| Keywords: | Gorillas Ant eating Ranging |
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