Daily Activity time Budget of Captive Gelada Baboon (Theropithecus Gelada) and Patas Monkey(Erythrocebus Patas) at Addis Abeba Lion Zoo
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Date
2019-09-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
It is important to understand the behaviour of primates in captivity for two main reasons. Firstly, as a means towards ensuring their wellbeing, and secondly to use that understanding to ensure a positive experience for zoo visitors. The aim of this thesis research goes in line with these two objectives. In this research, an attempt was made to study the daily time budget of a gelada baboon (Theropithecus gelada) heterosexual pair and a single individual patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas) kept in captivity at the Addis Ababa Lion Zoo. The activity time budget of each individual was monitored for a total of 30 observation days in seven month (September 2018-March 2019). Both gelada individuals spend most of their time resting (male=29%; female=32%). Resting was followed by observing (male=18%; female=22%) and feeding (male=15%; 20%). The lowest time allocation was observed for grooming (male=2%; female=2%) and aggression (male=5%; female= 2%). While the two gelada individuals showed similarity in time allocation for most of their daily activities, there was marked difference in the proportion of time used in climbing where the male was engaged more than the female (male= 15%; female= 6%).The patas monkey also allocated the highest proportion of its time budget for resting (26%) followed by climbing (22%) and observing (18%). Aggression (1%) and playing (8%) were the least performed activities. No significant variation in the distribution of allocated time budget between different periods within the day (morning, midday and afternoon) was observed in both primate species.
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Addis Ababa Lion Zoo, Activity, Time Budget, Patas Monkey, Gelada Baboon