First Place Winner: Monkey-Human Connection

Photo by Charlene Fournier Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

The picture represents Ice, a red-tailed monkey individual from the Mkenke valley group A, which is a mixed-species group between red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius), blue monkeys (C. mitis), and their hybrids, in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Specific facial features, such as a white nose spot in the red-tailed monkeys, make individuals recognizable. Ice is a subadult male close to being sexually mature. He is at the edge of dispersing from his natal group to find non-genetically related females for reproduction. The photo was taken during my first field season in May 2019, in the goal of creating a photographic database for the creation of a facial recognition software for individuals in our study group. Due to a long-lasting habituation process in Gombe, scientists are able to spend valuable time observing the animals and collect the data needed to complete long-term research projects. However, it is also an incredible way to share space, looks, and emotions with wild primates in their natural environment. By spending months in the forest among them, we begin feeling part of their social group and sometimes wonder who the individual being followed is.