AS-HOPE report

Number: AS-23-040

Parasitological research of wild primates living in Kalinzu Forest

Report: Ejima Shun

Date: 2012/1/4 - 2012/2/29

From 7th January to 26th February 2012, I stayed at the Kalinzu Forest Reserve, Republic of Uganda and investigated the gastrointestinal helminths of wild primates living there. The study subjects were 6 species (red-tailed monkey, blue monkey, L'hoest's monkey, chimpanzee, black-and-white colobus and anubis baboon). First I followed target primate species with a tracker and when the defecation was seen, I collected their feces immediately. During the day, I weighed the fecal samples and calculated the number of parasite eggs by a simple fecal sedimentation method and sucrose floatation method under the microscope. The surplus fecal samples were put in 50ml polystyrene tubes with 70% ethanol and a total of 165 tubes were brought back to Japan for further analysis. Some fecal samples were used for larva culture by nutrient-agar-medium method and brought back to Japan. The larvae were used for further identification and materials of DNA analysis. Soon after returning to Japan, I reported about the distribution of 3 universally seen parasite genus from my preliminary data in the seminar of Social Behavior and Ecology Section. Hereafter I am planning to conduct further parasite identification and calculation of parasite eggs, and phylogenetic analysis using extracted DNA from eggs and larvae, to complete my master's thesis.

Anubis baboon appeared in human habitation


Fecal analysis


Oesophagostomum sp. from agar culture

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