| Full Name of Site | Mondika Research Center |
| Country | Central African Republic and Republic of Congo |
| Location of base camp | 02o 21’ 859″ N, 016o 16’ 465″ E |
| Status | 75% of area is national park; 25% is unprotected |
| Area- study area | 50km² |
| Area- | Dzanga-Ndoki National Park
Ndoki sector of park (= 795km²) within 3500km² reserve |
| Study Period | continuous since May 1995 |
| Focus of Project | Research |
| Altitude | < 400m |
| Rainfall | mean = 1430, range = 1084 – 1779, n = 4 years (96-99) |
| Research Presence | Permanent since May 1995 |
| Habituation | good |
| Types of questions? | Relationship of foraging strategy and social organization |
| Conservation Projects? | Work in conjuntion with WWF and WCS |
| Species studied in addition to WLGs | dissertation research on two species of mangabeys (Shah) |
| Distance to closest village in km | approximately 25 km |
| Types of vegetation present at Site | |
| savanna | absent |
| gallery forest | absent |
| previously logged secondary forest | absent |
| streambed | |
| open understory forest (Primary) | present |
| monodominant (Gilbertiodendron) | present |
| Light gaps | present |
| Marantaceae forest | present |
| Swamp Forest | present |
| Bais | present |
| Mammalian community | |
| chimpanzees | weekly/ 2x per month |
| elephants | rare – < monthly |
| buffalo | rare – < monthly |
| monkeys | |
| Cercocebus galeritus | weekly |
| Lophocebus albigena | daily |
| Cercopithecus cephus | daily/weekly |
| Cercopithecus nictitans | daily |
| Cercopithecus pogonias | daily |
| Cercopithecus neglectus | rare < monthly |
| Piliocolobus badius | rare < monthly |
| Colobus guerza | daily |
| red river hog | weekly |
| giant forest hog | none |
| Human Influence | |
| selective logging | never |
| hunting (snares. Traces, shots fired) | extremely rarely < 1 each 6 months |
| gorillas a target? | in our study area- no, in region -yes |
| agriculture- distance to nearest field | 25 km |
| tourism | none |
| Predators | Panthera pardus |
| Methods Used | |
| Indirect evidence (trail, feces) | yes for diet studies for 5 years |
| Nest to nest tracking | yes on a daily basis fro one group since April 01; |
| Direct behavioral sampling | very little |
| focal subject sampling | none |
| Contact Information | Diane Doran, Department of Anthropology, SUNY at |
| Stony Brook 11794 | |
| Bibliography | Mehlman, P and Doran, D.M. (in press, 2002) When do western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) build nests?: Factors influencing nest construction at Mondika Research Center. |
| Int. J. Primatol. 23(6) | |
| Lilly, A.A., Mehlman, P.T. and Doran, D.M. (in press, 2002) Intestinal parasites in gorillas, chimpanzees and humans at Mondika Research Site, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic. Int. J. Primatol. 23(3) | |
| Doran, D.M. and A. McNeilage. (2001) Subspecific variation in gorilla behavior: the influence of ecological and social factors. In: M. M. Robbins, P. Sicotte and K. J. Stewart (eds.) Mountain Gorillas: Three Decades of Research at Karisoke. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 123-149 | |
| Doran, D.M. and A. McNeilage. 1998. Gorilla behavior and ecology. Ev. Anthro. 6(4): 120-131. | |
| Manuscript in Review: | |
| Doran, D.M., McNeilage, A, Greer, D, Bocian, C, Mehlman, P. and N. Shah (in review). The importance of fruit to western lowland gorillas; new evidence from Mondika Research Center. American J. of Primatol. | |
| Published Abstracts: | |
| Doran, DM and Greer, D (2002) The influence of swamp use and fruit consumption on western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) ranging behavior at Mondika Research Center. Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. (suppl.) 64-65. | |
| Bradley, B.J., Doran, D., Robbins, M.M., Williamson, E., Boesch, C., and L. Vigilant (2002) Comparative analyses of genetic social structure in wild gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) using DNA from feces and hair. Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. (suppl.) 46-48. | |
| Bradley, BJ, Doran, DM, Boesch, C, Vigilant, L (2001) Paternity assessment in wild western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) using DNA from feces. | |
| International Primatological Society, Adelaide, Australia | |
| Mehlman, PT and Doran D. 1999. Group nest counts in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), Mondika Research Center, Central African Republic. Am. J. Primatol. 49(1) 80 | |
| Lilly, A and Doran, D. 1999. Intestinal parasite loads in western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and researchers in Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic. Am. J. Primatol. 49(1): 73-74. | |
| Doran, D.M. and McNeilage, A. 1999. Diet of western lowland gorillas in south-west Central African Republic: Implications for subspecific variation in gorilla grouping and ranging patterns. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. Suppl. 27. 121. | |
| Doran, D. M. and McNeilage, A. 1998. The density of herbaceous vegetation in south-west Central African Republic: implications for western lowland gorilla socioecology. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. Suppl. 26 |