Local specialists’ experience and skills in animal behaviour studies: insights from wild chimpanzee field assistants

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dc.contributor.authorSoldati, Adrian;
dc.contributor.authorFedurek, Pawel;
dc.contributor.authorEleuteri, Vesta ;
dc.contributor.authorZuberbühler, Klaus;
dc.contributor.authorCall, Josep;
dc.contributor.authorMuhumuza, Geresomu;
dc.contributor.authorMbotella, Monday;
dc.contributor.authorAdue, Sam;
dc.contributor.authorBoscou, Chandia;
dc.contributor.authorAsua, Jackson;
dc.contributor.authorLomoro, Dennis;
dc.contributor.authorMuhanguzi, Geoffrey;
dc.contributor.authorDezecache, Guillaume
dc.date.accessioned2026-02-02T12:43:28Z
dc.date.issued2026-01-21
dc.description.abstractThe study of wild animal behaviour and cognition has greatly benefited from the foundational work of local specialists (LSs), particularly field assistants. In primate research, long-term studies rely on accurate identification and tracking of individuals-a skill often honed by LSs and passed on to international specialists (ISs). Despite growing recognition in publications, LSs' scientific contributions often remain undervalued. Here, we show that LSs at the Budongo Conservation Field Station (Uganda) reliably extract acoustic information (caller identity, sex and age, call components and production context) from long-distance pant hoot calls produced by wild chimpanzees. Importantly, LSs significantly outperform ISs at identifying individuals (LS accuracy = 50% (95% confidence interval (CI): 45-56%); IS accuracy = 8% (95% CI: 5-11%)), an important skill for recognizing and locating individuals in dense forests. LSs' performance was positively associated with duration of working experience. Given the limited field time of ISs (typically 1-2 years), LSs' expertise and longer commitment (mean 16.75 years) represent an essential yet underacknowledged scientific resource. Our study highlights LSs' critical role in ethological research-not only enhancing skills and data quality, but also potentially helping address both ethical (e.g. community involvement) and environmental (e.g. travel carbon footprint) challenges linked to fieldwork in remote locations. MEDLINE
dc.identifier.citationAdrian Soldati, Pawel Fedurek, Vesta Eleuteri, Klaus Zuberbühler, Josep Call, Geresomu Muhumuza, Monday Mbotella, Sam Adue, Chandia Boscou, Jackson Asua, Dennis Lomoro, Geoffrey Muhanguzi, Guillaume Dezecache; Local specialists’ experience and skills in animal behaviour studies: insights from wild chimpanzee field assistants. Proc Biol Sci 1 January 2026; 293 (2063): 20250997. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.0997
dc.identifier.issnISSN 1471-2954
dc.identifier.issnEISSN 1471-2954
dc.identifier.urihttps://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/11987
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherThe royal society publishing
dc.subjectlocal specialists
dc.subjecthelicopter science
dc.subjectanimal communication
dc.subjectacoustic information
dc.subjectprimatology
dc.subjectchimpanzee pant hoots
dc.titleLocal specialists’ experience and skills in animal behaviour studies: insights from wild chimpanzee field assistants
dc.typeArticle
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