The Great Primate Handshake – Volunteer in Africa, working to conserve monkeys and apes through film and educational content production

Kakamega forest in western Kenya is the only place in the entire country where rainforest can be found. This habitat once traversed the entirety of central Africa from east to west. The main factor in the disappearance of this habitat is deforestation. Kakamega forest is now a safe haven for Kenya’s remaining native primates. Colobus and Blue Monkeys are a common site within the forest. Rarer species which inhabit the forest include Red Tailed and Debrazza Monkeys. This abundance of wildlife has resulted in the Kakamega Environmental Education Program or KEEP being established. Along with educating the community, the project has attracted researchers from both Kenya and overseas.

The research team and 3 members of the video team were given the opportunity to accompany two researchers who were studying the Blue Monkeys located in the area. This allowed the Handshake volunteers to study both the animal and how the researchers go about gathering information.

On a hot Friday afternoon, the volunteers entered the rainforest along with the researchers. First the researchers underlined what type of information they usually gather. DNA is collected from faeces in the hope of determine the genetics of juveniles. This is collected as a study which aims to find out if alpha males are the only males within groups to breed. The results which have been collected over time have come to the conclusion that this depends on group size. If the alpha male is the head of a small group with limited females, he will usually only have breeding rights. If the group is large, he won’t usually be able to satisfy all his females and therefore beta males will gain the opportunity to breed. Other information which is collected includes confrontations between different groups, diet preference and general behaviour.

To aid the collection of data, the researchers use high tech equipment such as GPS. They mark out their journey through the forest.  When they spot groups or certain behaviours they record the location. When the researchers come across a group they will firstly mark down the individuals who can be seen. This allows them to make sure that none of the individuals have succumbed to predation or disease. Predators include eagles and dogs. Any noticeable behaviour is also marked down.

Inter Group Encounter’s (IGE’s) are also monitored. These moments are extremely important to researchers as they show the behaviour when two opposing groups of animals confront each other. Interestingly females and juveniles perform most of the fighting or physical contact. Alpha males often stand by and watch the altercations. After the fighting has taken place, grooming will often occur so any injuries can be tended to.

The location of the groups can be relatively easy to determine as blue monkeys have around 10 different vocalisations. These are often mimicked by the researchers so they can establish the where about of the animals. Females are followed by the researchers. An individual is often picked out and followed for around 30 minutes, up to 10 different females are tracked each day and their behaviour recorded.

The two researchers, Mildred and Calub, accompanied the volunteers into the rain forest. Mildred who has grown up in the local area, now has a career conserving the forest and its organisms. She has witnessed poaching within her community and this has spurred her to involve herself within the field of conservation. She worked educating the local community on primates until her potential was spotted by a visiting professor who asked her if she would like to be involved in the research of Blue Monkeys. The research performed by the pair and the entire research group at Kakamega is extremely important as it is sent to the Columbia University in America for analysis. Apart from the handshake volunteers, they will often be accompanied by students from the university who travel to Kenya to see the data that has been collected and studied first hand.

After around 2 hours of observing the Blue Monkeys, the volunteers left the researchers to study the primates further. With a wide array of intresting video, the team left with large amounts of content which would make up some the Handshakes educational videos. The research team on the other hand gained an insight into primate behaviour and how professional researchers approach their work.