Diet Activity Patterns and Ranging Ecology of th

Authors: Addisu Mekonnen Afework Bekele Peter J Fashing Graham Hemson Anagaw Atickem

Publish Date: 2010/03/12

Volume: 31, Issue: 3, Pages: 339-362

PDF Link

Abstract

Bale monkeys Chlorocebus djamdjamensis are littleknown primates endemic to the forests of the Bale Massif and Hagere Selam regions of Ethiopia From August 2007 to May 2008 we conducted the first ever study of the species’ behavior and ecology focusing in particular on its diet activity patterns and ranging ecology in the Odobullu Forest We studied 2 neighboring groups group A 55–60 members group B 46–50 members and conducted behavioral scan samples on the first 2–5 individuals sighted at 15min intervals Feeding accounted for 657 of the activity budget followed by moving 144 resting 107 social 71 and other behaviors 24 Overall diet during the study was dominated by young leaves 802 though subjects also ate fruits 96 flowers 31 animal prey 23 shoots 15 stems 14 mature leaves 11 and roots 09 Bale monkeys consumed only 11 plant species of these the top 5 species accounted for 943 of their diet The top food item bamboo Arundinaria alpina was responsible for a remarkable 767 of their diet with most 952 of the bamboo consumption consisting of young leaves Mean daily path length for the study groups was 928 m and mean 100 minimum convex polygon home range size was 152 ha Though we are cautious in drawing conclusions from only 2 groups the larger group traveled further per day and occupied a larger home range patterns suggesting scramble competition may be occurring in Bale monkey groups at Odobullu The dietary specialization of Bale monkeys on bamboo makes them unique among Chlorocebus spp and suggests an intriguing ecological convergence with the golden monkeys Cercopithecus mitis kandti of Uganda and bamboo lemurs Hapalemur spp of Madagascar Their narrow ecological niche limited geographic distribution and bamboo harvesting by local people for commercial purposes place Bale monkeys at risk of extinction To ensure the longterm survival of Bale monkeys appropriate management action should be taken to conserve the species and the bamboo forests upon which it dependsThis research was funded by the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium and Primate Conservation Inc FARMAfrica and SOS Sahel Ethiopia provided satellite imagery We thank the Federal Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority and Oromia Region Wildlife Department for their permission to conduct this research and Stuart Williams for initiating the project We also thank Colin Groves Nga Nguyen and 2 anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript and for providing access to relevant literature We thank Assefa Hailu of the National Herbarium for identification of plant specimens We thank Addis Ababa University Department of Biology the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme and Frankfurt Zoological Society for their logistical support of our study We also thank the following field assistants camp attendants and villagers for their help Mohammed Worko Omer Hajeleye Hassen Wole Issa Hussen Adem Koye Kemal Mohammed and Awol Hule

Keywords: