What did this chimpanzee catch?

Where gorillas are impressive yet peaceful vegetarians, chimpanzees like to eat animal protein from time to time. That doesn’t stop with eating termites or army-ants. Chimpanzee groups may actively hunt for monkeys in tree tops. On rare occasions they may upset local communities by catching a young goat. One of our videos show chimpanzees eating mongooses. Recently one of our trap cameras recorded a chimpanzee grabbing a small animal out of a tree trunk.
Most likely the prey is a bush baby (Galago senegalensis), but it should have a long tail. Could it be a potto? The potto (Perodicticus potto) is another tree-dwelling primate. The name “potto” may be from “pata”, which means a tailless monkey in Wolof, a language commonly spoken in Senegal. Pottos have never been recorded for Guinea Bissau, but some distribution maps give a range for pottos that touches Guinea Bissau’s southern border. We have asked experts for their opinion about what this chimpanzee might cherish.

Read more in our November newsletter.