Gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos are found in 21 countries across tropical Africa and all are considered to be endangered or critically endangered. They also live in critical forests that are important to other biodiversity and that are one of our best natural defenses against climate change.
In addition to the threats posed by habitat loss, poaching and disease, climate change is of increasing concern as a conservation risk. A recent collaborative research project that included several Fossey Fund scientists examined 363 sites where apes live in Africa to estimate their past and future exposure to climate change, as well as to gather evidence on how these apes may be affected. The study provides detailed analyses across numerous ape sites through a database called A.P.E.S (Apes, Populations, Environment, and Survey). The A.P.E.S. database is managed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and represents a huge collaborative effort where scientists share their data with the goal of supporting research on the conservation of great ape populations.
The new study, published in PLoS Climate, shows that all African ape sites have already experienced climate changes and will likely be increasingly exposed to continued temperature increases as well as extreme events in the future.
“Long-term research sites can play a significant role in investigating how sensitive animals are to climate change and integrating this knowledge into conservation action planning,” says Dr. Tara Stoinski, Fossey Fund president and CEO/chief scientist, who is attending Climate Week in New York City this month with leaders from around the world.
Chimpanzees photographed by Fossey Fund camera traps in DR Congo.
Can apes adapt to climate change?
Gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos are intelligent animals and have some ability to adapt their behaviors as their surroundings change, say the study’s authors. For example, chimpanzees have been seen to sit in water pools or rest in caves during high temperatures, while mountain gorillas drink more frequently when it is warmer. The intelligence of apes as well as their broadly flexible diets may help buffer them from climate change to a greater degree than species that are more specialized.
However, the impacts of climate events on apes could include heat stress and dehydration along with related physiological effects, loss of water sources and food plants, and degradation or loss of habitat. Apes play an important role in their ecosystems, so learning as much as possible about how climate change may impact them is critical.
This study concludes that all of the ape sites reviewed are and will continue to be increasingly exposed to climate change impacts, but that much more research is needed to better understand their vulnerability. Long-term research sites like the Fossey Fund’s may be the best places to investigate these questions, with the ultimate goal of integrating climate change issues into conservation action planning.
Mountain gorilla Isaro and her infant in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.
“Not only is this an important international study, but a substantial part of the work was a result of a training workshop for early career African academics that the Fossey Fund and other organizations helped support in Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire in 2022 and 2023. That’s the kind of investment needed to undertake this kind of large-scale assessment, at a time when we need to push forward and take action on all fronts regarding climate change and conservation,” says Dr. Stoinski.
Organizers of the training workshops that helped support this work included the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group—Section on Great Apes, Re:wild, and the African Primatological Society. The leading author was Razak Kiribou, from the African Centre of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation at Haramaya University, Ethiopia. Fossey Fund co-authors included Dr. Yntze van der Hoek and Jean Pierre Samedi Mucyo.
