The Gombe Ecosystem Health Project: 16 years of program evolution and lessons learned

Area of Science:

• Primate Conservation
• Ecosystem Health
• Veterinary Epidemiology

Background:

• Infectious diseases significantly threaten wild primate populations, including chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
• Effective conservation requires understanding and mitigating disease risks to ensure the sustainability and welfare of wild populations.
• Long-term health monitoring is crucial for detecting and responding to disease outbreaks in complex ecosystems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a long-term health-monitoring program for chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, starting in 2004.
• To expand the project's scope to include diagnostic surveillance of pathogens for all primates, humans, and domestic animals within the Gombe ecosystem.
• To develop baseline health indicators and inform disease outbreak response through integrated data analysis and post-mortem examinations.

Main Methods:

• Initiated a long-term health-monitoring program including standardized clinical health data collection.
• Integrated diagnostic surveillance of pathogens across multiple species (primates, humans, domestic animals).
• Conducted in-depth post-mortem examinations to supplement health data and establish baseline indicators.

Main Results:

• Developed and expanded the Gombe Ecosystem Health project over 16 years.
• Established baseline health indicators for the Gombe ecosystem, informing outbreak response strategies.
• Gained insights into the challenges and lessons learned from implementing multispecies ecosystem health studies.

Conclusions:

• Long-term, multispecies health monitoring is essential for effective conservation of threatened primates like chimpanzees.
• Integrated data from clinical signs, pathogen surveillance, and post-mortem examinations provide a comprehensive understanding of ecosystem health.
• Continued research and adaptive management are necessary to address ongoing challenges in complex, multispecies environments.