Daily Behavioral Activity Pattern of Colobus Monkey In Menagesha-Suba Forest
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2018-03-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The behavioral activity patterns of the black and white Colobus monkey (Colobus geureza) were studied in Menagesha-Suba forest reserve in central Ethiopia. The study investigated the activity pattern of feeding, grooming, mating, playing and other forms of behaviors with in selected target guereza groups. Scanning method was used throughout the study to record the overall behavioral activities. The data were collected for six months, between November 2016 and April 2017. A total of 360 scanning periods each with 10 minutes duration were employed during the study. The data were collected based categories (adult males, adult females and young) in the group. The results showed that gurezza spends most of its time resting (38.56%) and feeding (35.04%) while mating (0.27) and aggression (3.17) were the least frequently observed behaviors. More feeding (37.57%), grooming (12.12%) and aggression (3.48%) were observed during the morning, while resting (41.24%) and playing (13.49) were more frequent in the afternoon. Adult females showed the highest proportion of feeding compared to adult males and young. On the other hand, adult males spent more time resting compared to adult females and young. Playing was by far most frequent in the young. The observed variation in activity pattern among the age and sex groups was consistent in the morning and afternoon. The gurezza were observed to feed on seven plant species at the study area with Cypress (36%) and Olive (20%) trees being the most commonly consumed plants. Acacia (5%) and Cape fig (7%) were the least commonly consumed plants. Self-grooming constituted the highest proportion (69%) of the total grooming observed and it was most frequent among males (29%). Females exhibited the highest proportion of non-self grooming. Aggression behavior was observed only among adult males. Aggressions were induced by the presence of hyena and subordinates during mating. It was also displayed when dominant males overtake suitable feeding spots.
Description
Keywords
Behavior, Activity Pattern, Menagehsa-Suba Forest, Colobus Guereza, Scanning Method