Chimpanzees and humans ‘overlap’ in their use of forests and even villages, new research shows.

Scientists used camera traps to track the movements of western chimpanzees — a critically endangered species — in Guinea-Bissau.

Chimpanzees used areas away from villages and agriculture more intensively, but entered land used by humans to get fruit — especially when wild fruits were scarce.

Researchers from the University of Exeter and Oxford Brookes University say the approach used in this study could help to inform a «coexistence strategy» for chimpanzees and humans.

«Understanding how wildlife balance the risks and rewards of entering environments used by humans is crucial to developing strategies to reduce risks of negative interactions, including disease transmission and aggression by animals or humans,» said lead author Dr Elena Bersacola, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

«Using 12 months of data from 21 camera traps, our study produced hotspot maps that show how humans and chimpanzees overlap in their use of forests, villages and cultivated areas.»

Chimpanzee use of space was linked to the availability of naturalised oil-palm fruit, and the study also shows that chimpanzees access high-risk orange, lime and papaya fruits in response to nutritional necessity rather than preference alone.

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