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Morgan and Sanz collaborate with a field team of Congolese researchers and assistants to track
the apes as they move through the forest, recording how the animals interact with one another,
use tools, and find food. Motion-sensitive “camera traps” provide images and video of animals
that are hard to see in parts of the park that are hard for people to reach.
As researchers monitor the apes of the Goualougo Triangle to learn more about their behavior,
they also learn about how logging affects chimpanzees and gorillas. The Goualougo Triangle
is part of a protected National Park, but the forests around the Triangle are used for logging.
By monitoring the movement of chimpanzee and gorilla populations before, during, and after
logging, the researchers get information to improve sustainable logging practices, helping
conservation efforts across Africa for these endangered apes. Research like this will ensure that
a situation like that of Second Nature will never happen, that there will always be safe spaces for
these great apes to roam.
For more information on the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project, please visit
conservation-science/projects/goualougo-triangle-ape-project .
Animal Behavior Study
The study of animal behavior is called ethology. Scientists who study animal behavior use
ethograms. Ethograms are checklists of the types of behaviors a scientist might see an animal
doing. Now, you will conduct your own animal behavior research!
You will need the ethogram on the following page, a pencil, and a stopwatch.
Pick one individual animal at the zoo or in your school yard to watch for 5 minutes.
Record your animal’s behavior every 15 seconds.
Discussion Questions
• Which behavior did you see most often?
• Do you think you would have different results if you watched your animal at a different time
of day? Why or why not?
• Do you think that studying animal behavior can help people protect animals and conserve
their habitats? How? Do you think that if more people in Second Nature studied apes like the
bonobo and their habitats, they would have been more likely to protect these animals and
conserve their habitats? Why or why not?
• If you could design a habitat for the bonobo, what would it look like? What kinds of things
do you think apes, like bonobos, chimpanzees, and gorillas, need to stay mentally and
physically healthy?
To learn more about how Lincoln Park Zoo protects wildlife and natural habitats, please visit www.
Project ChimpCARE
In addition to research in the wild, Lincoln Park Zoo also works to improve the wellbeing of
chimpanzees in the United States through Project ChimpCARE. To learn more about ChimpCARE
visit .