The Lawrence Jacobsen Library
Books Received (Primate-Science/PrimateLit)

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS:
THREE DECADES OF RESEARCH AT KARISOKE

Edited by


Martha M. Robbins
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig


Pascale Sicotte
University of Calgary


Kelly J. Stewart
University of California, Davis



Cambridge University Press 2001




INTRODUCTION:


For the past three decades the mountain gorillas of Karisoke Research Center have been
the subject of many studies focusing on their behavior and ecology. Long-term
observations on known individuals, from birth to death, as well as data on social
behavior within and between groups have led to an understanding of many aspects of the
social system of gorillas. The findings have made significant contributions to models
of comparative primate behavioral ecology. Mountain gorillas have also been the focus
of intense conservation efforts, which have become a model for conservation programs
elsewhere. While most of what we know about the genus Gorilla is based on mountain
gorillas, data on the other two recognized subspecies have increased over the past 20
years. This book highlights and summarizes some of the behavioral, ecological, and
conservation work on mountain gorillas, and makes comparisons with findings from other
study sites. Aimed at graduate students and researchers in primatology and behavioral
ecology, it will also appeal to all those interested in gorilla conservation, and
represents the most up-to-date and diverse collection of information available on this
endangered ape.


Martha M. Robbins is Research Associate at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology, Leipzig. Her research currently focuses on the behavioral ecology and
reproductive strategies of the gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.


Pascale Sicotte is Associate Professor of Primatology at the University of Calgary.
Her research interests lie in male-male competition, male-female relationships, and
female mate choice. She was Director of the  Karisoke Research Center from 1993 to
1994.


Kelly J. Stewart is Research Associate at the University of California, Davis, where
her research focuses on the socioecology and conservation of apes. She is editor of the
annual Gorilla Conservation News and serves on the Scientific Advisory Council of the
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.




CONTENTS:


List of contributors     ix
Acknowledgements      xi


1. Mountain gorillas of the Virungas: a short history     1
Kelly J. Stewart, Pascale Sicotte,
and Martha M. Robbins


Part I The Social System of Gorillas     27


2. Variation in the social system of
mountain gorillas: the male perspective     29
Martha M. Robbins


3. Female mate choice in mountain gorillas     59
Pascale Sicotte


4. Dispersal patterns, group structure, and reproductive parameters of
eastern lowland gorillas at Kahuzi in the absence of infanticide        89
Juichi Yamagiwa and John Kahekwa


5. Subspecific variation in gorilla behavior:
the influence of ecological and social factors     123
Diane M. Doran and Alastair McNeilage


Part II Within-group Social Behavior     151


6. Development of infant independence from
the mother in wild mountain gorillas                153
Alison Fletcher


7. Social relationships of immature gorillas and silverbacks     183
Kelly J. Stewart


8. Social relationships of female mountain gorillas     215
David P. Watts


9. Vocal relationships of wild mountain gorillas     241
Alexander H. Harcourt and Kelly J. Stewart


Part III Feeding Behavior     263


10. Diet and habitat use of two mountain gorilla groups
in contrasting habitats in the Virungas                         265
Alastair McNeilage


11. Clever hands: the food-processing skills of mountain gorillas     293
Richard W. Byrne


Part IV Conservation and Management of Mountain Gorillas     315


12. Assessment of reproduction and
stress through hormone analysis in gorillas     317
Nancy Czekala and Martha M. Robbins


13. Clinical medicine, preventive health care and
research on mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes region     341
Antoine B. Mudakikwa, Michael R. Cranfield,
Jonathon M. Sleeman, and Ute Eilenberger


14. Conservation-oriented research in the Virunga region     361
Andrew J. Plumtpre and Elizabeth A. Williamson


15. Status of the Virunga mountain gorilla population     391
H. Dieter Steklis and Netzin Gerald-Steklis


Afterword: mountain gorillas at the turn of the century      413
Bill Weber and Amy Vedder


Index     425




CONTRIBUTORS



Byrne, Richard W.   rwb@st-andrews.ac.uk
Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of
St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9JU, UK


Cranfield, Michael R.   mrcranfi@mail.bcpl.net
Medical Department, The Baltimore Zoo, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, MD
21217, USA & Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore,
MD 21217, USA & Division of Comparative Medicine, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA


Czekala, Nancy    czekala@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
Center of Reproduction of Endangered Species, San Diego Zoological Society,
PO Box 120551, San Diego, CA 92112, USA


Doran, Diane M.   ddoran@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Stony Brook,
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA


Eilenberger, Ute
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, B.P. 1321, Kigali, Rwanda


Fletcher, Alison    a.fletcher@chester.ac.uk
Department of Biology, University College Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester,
CH1 4BJ, UK


Gerald-Steklis, Netzin    science@gorillafund.org
DFGF-International 800, Cherokee Ave, SE Atlanta, GA 30315-1440, USA


Harcourt, Alexander H.   ahharcourt@ucdavis.edu
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, 330 Young Hall,
1 Sheilds Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA


Kahekwa, John
Parc National de Kahuzi-Biega, Institut Congolais pour Conservation de la
Nature, B.P. 895, Bukavu, Republique Democratique du Congo


McNeilage, Alastair     mcneilage@aol.com
Institute of Tropical Forestry Conservation, PO Box 44, Kabale, Uganda


Mudakikwa, Antoine B.    mgvc@inbox.rw
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, B.P. 1321, Kigali, Rwanda


Plumptre, Andrew J.    aplumptret@aol.com
Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460,
USA


Robbins, Martha M.   robbins@eva.mpg.de
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Inselstrasse 22, 04103
Leipzig, Germany


Sicotte, Pascale     sicotte@ucalgary.ca
Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW,
Calgary, AB T2N IN4, Canada


Sleeman, Jonathan M.
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, University of
Maryland, 8075 Greenmead Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA


Steklis, H. Dieter     mntgorilla@aol.com
Department of Anthropology, Rutgers - State University of New Jersey,
DFGF-International, Box 270, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 0270, USA


Stewart, Kelly J.     kjstewart@ucdavis.edu
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, 330 Young Hall,
1 Sheilds Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA


Vedder, Amy     avedder@wcs.org
Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460,
USA


Watts, David P.     david.watts@yale.edu
Department of Anthropology, Yale University, PO Box 208277, New Haven, CT
06529-8277, USA


Weber, William A. Wcsnap@aol.com
Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460,
USA


Williamson, Elizabeth A.     DFGFRWANDA@aol.com
DFGF-International, B.P. 1321, Kigali, Rwanda and Department of Psychology,
University of Stirling, UK


Yamagiwa, Juichi     yamagiwa@jinrui.zool.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Laboratory of Human Evolution Studies, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University,
Sakyo, Kyoto 606 8502 Japan


WHERE TO ORDER:


Cambridge University Press
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011-4211, USA


Phone:  1-800-872-7423
Fax:   914-937-4712
Web site: http://www.cambridge.org


Price: $80.00(Hardbound) ISBN: 0-521-78004-7