Brief report: Chimpanzees, tools, and termites: New record from Gabon

Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in northeastern Gabon use tools made of vegetation to obtain termites (Macrotermes? nobilis) for food. They mostly use probes in termite fishing, as recorded elsewhere in eastern and far western Africa. This is the first record of termite fishing by the central west African race of chimpanzees. There are signs that they also use stouter tools, perhaps to perforate the mounds of the termites. These new findings further complicate the status of material culture in this species of ape in nature.