UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Antelope Predation by Nigerian Forest Baboons: Ecological and Behavioural Correlates

Sommer, V; Lowe, A; Jesus, G; Alberts, N; Bouquet, Y; Inglis, DM; Petersdorf, M; ... Ross, C; + view all (2016) Antelope Predation by Nigerian Forest Baboons: Ecological and Behavioural Correlates. Folia Primatologica , 87 (2) pp. 67-90. 10.1159/000445830. Green open access

[thumbnail of Sommer_201502002_Sommer_et_al_Clean_Version.pdf]
Preview
Text
Sommer_201502002_Sommer_et_al_Clean_Version.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (276kB) | Preview
[thumbnail of Sommer_Figures.pdf]
Preview
Text
Sommer_Figures.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (18MB) | Preview
[thumbnail of Sommer-tables.pdf]
Preview
Text
Sommer-tables.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (163kB) | Preview

Abstract

Baboons are well studied in savannah but less so in more closed habitats. We investigated predation on mammals by olive baboons (Papio anubis) at a geographical and climatic outlier, Gashaka Gumti National Park (Nigeria), the wettest and most forested site so far studied. Despite abundant wildlife, meat eating was rare and selective. Over 16 years, baboons killed 7 bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) and 3 red-flanked duiker (Cephalophus rufilatus), mostly still-lying ‘parked' infants. Taking observation time into account, this is 1 predation per group every 3.3 months - far lower than at other sites. Some features of meat eating resemble those elsewhere; predation is opportunistic, adult males monopolize most prey, a targeted killing bite is lacking and begging or active sharing is absent. Carcass owners employ evasive tactics, as meat is often competed over, but satiated owners may tolerate others taking meat. Other features are unusual; this is only the second study site with predation records for bushbuck and the only one for red-flanked duiker. The atypical prey and rarity of eating mammals probably reflects the difficulty of acquiring prey animals when vegetation cover is dense. Our data support the general prediction of the socioecological model that environments shape behavioural patterns, while acknowledging their intraspecific or intrageneric plasticity.

Type: Article
Title: Antelope Predation by Nigerian Forest Baboons: Ecological and Behavioural Correlates
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1159/000445830
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1159/000445830
Language: English
Additional information: © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel. This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Zoology, Predation, Baboon, Bushbuck, Duiker, Forest, Nigeria, OLIVE BABOONS, NATIONAL-PARK, CHIMPANZEES, HAMADRYAS, PRIMATES, HUMANS, DUIKER, TROOP, PREY
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1539144
Downloads since deposit
323Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item