In the far southeast of Senegal, a pioneering scientific project dedicated to a unique community of chimpanzees offers residents without academic training an alternative to the perilous work of artisanal gold mines, while shedding new light on the adaptation of these primates to the savannah.
In the Kédougou region, bordering Mali and Guinea, artisanal gold panning has been one of the few means of subsistence for decades. A grueling and dangerous activity, the "dioura" has nevertheless given way, for a handful of men, to an unexpected destiny: scientific research. Michel Tama Sadiakhou, 37 years old, former miner, is one of these unique journeys. Since 2009, he has been involved in the Fongoli Savanna Chimpanzee Project, a research program founded in 2001 by American primatologist Jill Pruetz.
With four other inhabitants from the local Bedik and Bassari communities, most of whom do not have a secondary diploma, Michel Sadiakhou observes daily a community of around 35 chimpanzees living not in the forest, but in the middle of the savannah. These primates, called "Fongoli chimpanzees", exhibit exceptional behaviors. Females are notably the only animals known to hunt regularly using tools, shaping spears from branches to capture small primates, the galagos.
Every day, field researchers follow one adult male among the ten in the group, recording vocalizations, social interactions, diet and specific behaviors such as support drums, these rhythmic beats on tree trunks. For Michel Sadiakhou, who has now become chief researcher, these chimpanzees constitute a "second family". When he left the mines, however, he had never seen one.
His colleague Nazaire Bonnag, 31, also gave up gold panning after witnessing a fatal accident in an underground gallery. The decision to join the project marked a decisive break with a daily life dominated by risk and uncertainty.
The Kédougou region nevertheless remains the epicenter of traditional gold extraction in Senegal: it concentrates 98% of the sites identified and employs more than 30,000 people, according to the National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD). Paradoxically, it is among the poorest areas of the country, with a poverty rate above 65%. The rise of gold panning since the 2010s has accentuated environmental pressures: water pollution, deforestation and increased risks of transmission of human diseases to primates.
In this context, Fongoli chimpanzees constitute a rare scientific case. They are among the only savannah chimpanzees to have acclimated to prolonged human presence. Jill Pruetz's work has highlighted their ability to adapt to extreme conditions: bathing in natural ponds to withstand the heat, resting in cool caves, surprisingly calm behavior in the face of fire.
Today led by Dondo "Johnny" Kanté, originally from a neighboring village, the project focuses on the integration of local populations to ensure its sustainability. By bringing together former miners and scientists, it is generating growing interest from surrounding communities in the protection of this endangered species. An approach which, beyond research, aims to reconcile local development and the preservation of an exceptional natural heritage.
