Data Portal — Institute for Ape Conservation Science

About the Database

A unique repository of ape survey data

The IUCN SSC APES Database is a unique repository that brings together survey data on ape populations from across their range. It exists to support monitoring, research, and decision-making by compiling information on where apes occur, how many there are, and how those numbers change over time. Originally built for great apes, the database now also holds data on small apes and other primates.

The database is a project of the Section on Great Apes (SGA) of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, made possible by a wide range of funders, NGOs, government bodies, and research institutions.

Our objectives

Identify, compile, and permanently archive existing ape population survey data.
Make these data available to the ape conservation and research community.
Report regularly on the status and trends of ape populations, their habitats, and the threats they face.

What the database holds

Field survey data — line transect and recce data, nest counts, nest decay rates, presence/absence records, and behavioural observations
Camera trap images and video
Geospatial layers, including taxon range maps
A digital literature collection of published articles and unpublished survey reports
Abundance tables with population estimates by site and taxon

The database depends on you

The value of the database rests entirely on the people who contribute to it. If you hold recent or historical ape survey data, we invite you to archive it here so that it informs policy, research, and conservation for years to come. See Contributing to the database below for how to get started.

Survey Data

Access raw ape field survey datasets

Request access to our raw ape field survey datasets by following the link below. Please be aware that these datasets represent unprocessed field survey data as originally submitted to the IUCN SSC APES database — they have not yet been converted to a standardized format, and datasets with major errors have been temporarily excluded pending cleaning.

The dataset list is continuously updated as new data is submitted and archived datasets are cleaned. A fully standardized format for all datasets is expected by end of 2027. Submitted access requests will be reviewed by the APES database management team, who will then contact you directly.

Request access to survey data

Spatial Layers

Explore spatial layers from the APES Database

Here, you can explore several spatial layers created by multiple users using raw survey data stored in our Database. These datasets provide valuable insights into ape research, including ape range, density distribution, abundance, population genetics, behavioral traits, threats, habitat connectivity, and surveys.

Please contact the data manager for access to specific spatial layers of interest.

Below you will find a map for a spatial overview (the map is currently being expanded). All existing layers are listed in the table below.

Year	Range	Species	Theme	Title
2008	Africa	Pan troglodytes ellioti	Range	Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee range (2008)
2016	Africa	Pan troglodytes ellioti	Range	Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee range (2016)
2008	Africa	Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii	Range	Eastern chimpanzee range (2008)
2016	Africa	Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii	Range	Eastern chimpanzee range (2016)
2008	Africa	Pan troglodytes troglodytes	Range	Central chimpanzee range (2008)
2016	Africa	Pan troglodytes troglodytes	Range	Central chimpanzee range (2016)
2008	Africa	Pan troglodytes verus	Range	Western chimpanzee range (2008)
2016	Africa	Pan troglodytes verus	Range	Western chimpanzee range (2016)
2016	Africa (DRC)	Pan paniscus	Range	Bonobo range (2016)
2008	Africa	Gorilla beringei graueri	Range	Grauer's gorilla range (2008)
2016	Africa	Gorilla sp. (unspecified)	Range	Gorilla range (2016)
2008	Asia (Sumatra)	Pongo abelii	Range	Sumatran orangutan range (2008)
2023	Asia (Sumatra)	Pongo abelii	Range	Sumatran orangutan range (2023)
2008	Asia (Borneo)	Pongo pygmaeus	Range	Bornean orangutan range (2008)
2023	Asia (Borneo)	Pongo pygmaeus	Range	Bornean orangutan range (2023)
2023	Asia (Sumatra)	Pongo tapanuliensis	Range	Tapanuli orangutan range (2023)

Camera Trap Data

Archive your camera trap surveys

Camera trap surveys play an increasingly central role in ape monitoring programmes. The IUCN SSC APES Database now accepts camera trap data, both image and video material.

You can deposit already-processed material together with its tabular results, or raw, unprocessed material. On request, our team will process the material for you using Zamba-cloud scripts to extract species records, and return the results to you in tabular form.

Because of the volume involved, camera trap data is currently submitted by hard drive. We are working on a direct upload option.

Abundance Tables

Population estimates by site and taxon

This section brings together abundance estimates for great apes and gibbons drawn from published and unpublished literature. Populations are grouped into abundance classes — for example 100–300 or 300–500 individuals — for each site. “Site” is used broadly here: a protected or unprotected area, a logging or mining concession, or any location where an ape population survey has been carried out. The tables currently cover 33 great and small ape taxa.

Literature Database

Search the ape literature collection

The APES literature database holds records on chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans — scientific articles from a wide range of journals alongside several hundred field survey reports covering ape populations, abundance, behaviour, and threats. Entries can be searched by country, site, taxon, year, and title keyword.

Please note that some of the survey reports listed are unpublished and not publicly available. If you would like a copy of an unpublished report, contact the data manager at .

APES Articles

Publications using APES Database data

The following publications use data from, or are directly related to, the IUCN SSC APES Database.

Arcus Foundation (Ed.). (2018). Infrastructure Development and Ape Conservation (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108436427
Arcus Foundation (Ed.). (2021a). Killing, Capture, Trade and Ape Conservation (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108768351
Arcus Foundation (Ed.). (2021b). The Status of Apes: A Foundation for Systematic, Evidence-based Conservation. In Killing, Capture, Trade and Ape Conservation (1st ed., pp. 198–229). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108768351.009
Barratt, C. D., Lester, J. D., Gratton, P., Onstein, R. E., Kalan, A. K., McCarthy, M. S., … & Kühl, H. S. (2021). Quantitative estimates of glacial refugia for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) since the Last Interglacial (120,000 BP). American Journal of Primatology, 83(10), e23320. doi:10.1002/ajp.23320
Carvalho, J. S., Graham, B., Bocksberger, G., Maisels, F., Williamson, E. A., Wich, S., … & Kühl, H. S. (2021). Predicting range shifts of African apes under global change scenarios. Diversity and Distributions, 27(9), 1663–1679. doi:10.1111/ddi.13358
Frazier, A. E., Honzák, M., Hudson, C., Perlin, R., Tohtsonie, A., Gaddis, K. D., … & Trgovac, A. B. (2021). Connectivity and conservation of Western Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) habitat in Liberia. Diversity and Distributions, 27(7), 1235–1250. doi:10.1111/ddi.13270
Freeman, B., Roehrdanz, P. R., & Peterson, A. T. (2019). Modeling endangered mammal species distributions and forest connectivity across the humid Upper Guinea lowland rainforest of West Africa. Biodiversity and Conservation, 28(3), 671–685. doi:10.1007/s10531-018-01684-6
Ginath Yuh, Y., N’Goran, P. K., Dongmo, Z. N., Tracz, W., Tangwa, E., Agunbiade, M., … & Fotang, C. (2020). Mapping suitable great ape habitat in and around the Lobéké National Park, South-East Cameroon. Ecology and Evolution, 10(24), 14282–14299. doi:10.1002/ece3.7027
GRASP & IUCN. (2018). GRASP and IUCN report to the CITES Standing Committee on the status of great apes (J. Refisch, S. Wich, & L. Williamson, Eds.). United Nations Environment Programme Great Apes Survival Partnership, Nairobi, and International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.24454.22085/1
Heinicke, S., Mundry, R., Boesch, C., Amarasekaran, B., Barrie, A., Brncic, T., … & Kühl, H. S. (2019). Advancing conservation planning for western chimpanzees using IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. — the case of a taxon-specific database. Environmental Research Letters, 14(6), 064001. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab1379
Heinicke, S., Ordaz-Németh, I., Junker, J., Bachmann, M. E., Marrocoli, S., Wessling, E. G., … & Kühl, H. S. (2021). Open-access platform to synthesize knowledge of ape conservation across sites. American Journal of Primatology, 83(1), e23213. doi:10.1002/ajp.23213
IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), Primate Specialist Group. (2020). Regional action plan for the conservation of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) 2020–2030. IUCN. doi:10.2305/IUCN.CH.2020.SSC-RAP.2.en
Kühl, H. S., Sop, T., Williamson, E. A., Mundry, R., Brugière, D., Campbell, G., … & Boesch, C. (2017). The Critically Endangered western chimpanzee declines by 80%. American Journal of Primatology, 79(9), e22681. doi:10.1002/ajp.22681
Ordaz-Németh, I., Sop, T., Amarasekaran, B., Bachmann, M., Boesch, C., Brncic, T., … & Kühl, H. S. (2021). Range-wide indicators of African great ape density distribution. American Journal of Primatology, 83(12), e23338. doi:10.1002/ajp.23338
Plumptre, A. J., Nixon, S., Kujirakwinja, D. K., Vieilledent, G., Critchlow, R., Williamson, E. A., … & Hall, J. S. (2016). Catastrophic decline of world’s largest primate: 80% loss of Grauer’s gorilla. PLOS ONE, 11(10), e0162697. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0162697
Sivaraman, M. R. (2019). State of the Apes: Infrastructure development and ape conservation. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 76(6), 1050–1054. doi:10.1080/00207233.2019.1612144
Sop, T., Boesch, C., & Kühl, H. (2019). Western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus). In C. Schwitzer, R. Mittermeier, A. Rylands, F. Chiozza, L. Williamson, D. Byler, … & G. McCabe (Eds.), Primates in Peril: The world’s most endangered primates 2018–2020 (pp. 46–49). PDF
Strindberg, S., Maisels, F., Williamson, E. A., Blake, S., Stokes, E. J., Aba’a, R., … & Wilkie, D. S. (2018). Guns, germs, and trees determine density and distribution of gorillas and chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa. Science Advances, 4(4), eaar2964. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aar2964
Tweh, C. G., Lormie, M. M., Kouakou, C. Y., Hillers, A., Kühl, H. S., & Junker, J. (2015). Conservation status of chimpanzees Pan troglodytes verus and other large mammals in Liberia: a nationwide survey. Oryx, 49(4), 710–718. doi:10.1017/S0030605313001191
Voigt, M., Wich, S. A., Ancrenaz, M., Meijaard, E., Abram, N., Banes, G. L., … & Kühl, H. S. (2018). Global demand for natural resources eliminated more than 100,000 Bornean orangutans. Current Biology, 28(5), 761–769.e5. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.053
Wich, S. A., Singleton, I., Nowak, M. G., Utami Atmoko, S. S., Nisam, G., Arif, S. Mhd., … & Kühl, H. S. (2016). Land-cover changes predict steep declines for the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii). Science Advances, 2(3), e1500789. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500789
Yuh, Y. G., Dongmo, Z. N., N’Goran, P. K., Ekodeck, H., Mengamenya, A., Kuehl, H., … & Elvis, T. (2019). Effects of land cover change on great apes distribution at the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding Forest Management Units, South-East Cameroon. A 13 year time series analysis. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1445. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36225-2

Contributing

How to contribute to and use the database

Sharing your survey data

If you hold recent or historical ape survey data, you can archive it with the APES Database by contacting the data manager at . Contributed data informs ape policy and supports research and conservation across the range — and, under the strict terms of our data-use policy, it remains under your control. Your dataset stays your property, and no third party receives it without your permission.

Requesting data

Anyone may request information from the APES Database, but survey data are not directly downloadable. All archived data remain the property of their owners, whose permission is required before anything is shared. To request field survey data, reports and publications, or spatial layers:

Complete the APES data request form, or email the data manager stating which datasets you are interested in.
Tell us who is making the request — the person, organization, or institution.
Include a short project description: objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes.
The data manager then contacts the data owner(s) for permission. Depending on their response times, this can take days to weeks.

Citing the database

If you use any information from the APES Database, please cite the reference below. Linking to this portal from your own website is another welcome way to support the project.

Heinicke, S., Mundry, R., Boesch, C., Amarasekaran, B., Barrie, A., Brncic, T., … & Kühl, H. S. (2019). Advancing conservation planning for western chimpanzees using IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. — the case of a taxon-specific database. Environmental Research Letters, 14(6), 064001. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab1379

Policy

Data access and release policy

The integrity of the database depends on being fully transparent about the rules that govern how ape survey data is contributed and distributed. The APES Data Access and Release Policy sets out the legal and technical terms of both, modelled on the African Elephant Database. Data contributors set the access limits for their own datasets: some make their data available to any request approved by our Data Review Working Group, others restrict its use to official APES reports.

Database Access and Release Policy — summarises and defines the general terms and policies of the database.
APES Data Template (Excel) — the standardised template in which all submitted survey data is stored. You are not expected to reformat your data before submitting it: send it in whatever form you have (tabular, text, shapefile) and the APES team will arrange it for you.

Ape Institute Data portal