@article{fdi:010096375,
  title = {{L}ocal specialists' experience and skills in animal behaviour studies : insights from wild chimpanzee field assistants},
  author = {{S}oldati, {A}. and {F}edurek, {P}. and {E}leuteri, {V}. and {Z}uberbühler, {K}. and {C}all, {J}. and {M}uhumuza, {G}. and {M}botella, {M}. and {A}due, {S}. and {B}oscou, {C}. and {A}sua, {J}. and {L}omoro, {D}. and {M}uhanguzi, {G}. and {D}ezecache, {G}uillaume},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he study of wild animal behaviour and cognition has greatly benefited from the foundational work of local specialists ({LS}s), particularly field assistants. {I}n primate research, long-term studies rely on accurate identification and tracking of individuals-a skill often honed by {LS}s and passed on to international specialists ({IS}s). {D}espite growing recognition in publications, {LS}s' scientific contributions often remain undervalued. {H}ere, we show that {LS}s at the {B}udongo {C}onservation {F}ield {S}tation ({U}ganda) reliably extract acoustic information (caller identity, sex and age, call components and production context) from long-distance pant hoot calls produced by wild chimpanzees. {I}mportantly, {LS}s significantly outperform {IS}s at identifying individuals ({LS} accuracy = 50% (95% confidence interval ({CI}): 45-56%); {IS} accuracy = 8% (95% {CI}: 5-11%)), an important skill for recognizing and locating individuals in dense forests. {LS}s' performance was positively associated with duration of working experience. {G}iven the limited field time of {IS}s (typically 1-2 years), {LS}s' expertise and longer commitment (mean 16.75 years) represent an essential yet underacknowledged scientific resource. {O}ur study highlights {LS}s' critical role in ethological research-not only enhancing skills and data quality, but also potentially helping address both ethical (e.g. community involvement) and environmental (e.g. travel carbon footprint) challenges linked to fieldwork in remote locations.},
  keywords = {local specialists ; helicopter science ; animal communication ; acoustic information ; primatology ; chimpanzee pant hoots ; {OUGANDA}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}roceedings of the {R}oyal {S}ociety {B} : {B}iological {S}ciences},
  volume = {293},
  numero = {2063},
  pages = {20250997 [12 p.]},
  ISSN = {0962-8452},
  year = {2026},
  DOI = {10.1098/rspb.2025.0997},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010096375},
}