For some years, chimpanzees have been observed eating the pith of decaying palm trees of
Raphia farinifera in the Budongo Forest, Uganda. The reasons for doing this have until now
been unknown. An analysis of the pith for mineral content showed high levels of sodium to
be present in the samples. By contrast, lower levels were found in bark of other tree species,
and also in leaf and fruit samples eaten by chimpanzees. The differences between the
Raphia samples and the non-Raphia samples were highly significant (p< 0.001). It is …

For some years, chimpanzees have been observed eating the pith of decaying palm trees of
Raphia farinifera in the Budongo Forest, Uganda. The reasons for doing this have until now
been unknown. An analysis of the pith for mineral content showed high levels of sodium to
be present in the samples. By contrast, lower levels were found in bark of other tree species,
and also in leaf and fruit samples eaten by chimpanzees. The differences between the
Raphia samples and the non-Raphia samples were highly significant (p, 0.001). It is …