Activity Patterns and Feeding Ecology of the Gelada Baboon (Theropithecus Gelada Arsi) and Human – Gelada Conflicts in Amigna, Eastern Arsi, Ethiopia
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2018-04-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Activity Patterns and Feeding Ecology of the Gelada Baboon (Theropithecus gelada arsi) and
Human–Gelada Conflicts in Amigna, Eastern Arsi, Eethiopia
Kelil Abu, PhD Dissertation, Addis Ababa University, 2017
Geladas are Old World monkeys found almost exclusively in the Afroalpine grasslands of the northern and central highlands of Ethiopia. However, a single cluster of gelada populations does exist south of the Great Ethiopian Rift Valley in the Arsi Region. This population was studied during June 2015–July 2017, focusing on activity patterns, diet, ranging ecology and Human–Gelada conflicts in the Amigna, eastern Arsi. Activity types and dietary data were gathered using instantaneous scan sampling method on an average of 10 consecutive days per month. Home range and day range length were determined for each unit based on point to point movements of the units between consecutive GPS locations recorded. These were calculated from the map using measuring tools in the GIS software ArcGIS’9. Human–gelada conflicts in the present study was carried out by means of questionnaire, field observation, and focus group discussions. The gelada baboon faecal dropping samples were also collected to compare the results with the questionnaire survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and responses compared using Chi-square test and one-way ANOVA. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the attitude of respondents towards gelada baboon and to determine the factors that cause crop loss by gelada baboon. The activity patterns observation showed that, feeding accounted for 40.31% of the activity budget, followed by movement (20.16%), rest (16.56%) and social (22.98%) activities. Geladas spent significantly more time in feeding (P < 0.05) and moving (P < 0.05) during the dry season compared to the time spent in the wet season. They spent significantly more time in resting (P < 0.05), playing (P < 0.05), grooming (P < 0.05) and aggression (P < 0.05) during the wet season compared to the dry season. Geladas diet mainly included grass blades (48.07% of feeding scans), iv
though they also consumed grass roots (18.14%) and leaves of forbs (10.96%). Arsi geladas consumed a total of eight plant species. Among these, the top four accounted for 81.16% of their overall diet. Hyparrhenia hirta contributed for 64.76% of the overall diet of gelada baboons. Ipomoea hildrbrandii ranked second, Euclea racemosa third and Ficus vasta fourth accounting for 10.84%, 5.56% and 4.53% of the overall diet, respectively. There was significant differences in the total time spent in feeding on Ipomoea hildrbrandii (P < 0.05) and Opuntia strcta (P < 0.05) between dry and wet seasons. The average daily range lengths during the wet seasons was 792.60 m and during the dry seasons was 1022.87 m. The home range areas of gelada groups over the course of the study period was 3.26 km2 and 5.44 km2 during wet and dry seasons, respectively. Among the respondent, 79.85% reported that crop damage faced by gelada baboons were increasing from time to time. As distance from the gelada habitat increased, crop damage by gelada baboons was decreased and vice versa. There was a direct relationship between the type of crops grown and the type of crops damaged by geladas (r = 0.23, P < 0.05). Among the respondents, 25.84% had negative attitude towards gelada baboon, whereas 74.16% had positive. As crop loss by gelada baboon increased, good attitude of respondents towards gelada baboon was decreased and vice versa. In general, there was strong conflict between gelada baboon and the surrounding people in most parts of the study area. Narrow ecological niche, limited geographic distribution, and conflict with local people place Arsi gelada at the risk of extinction. To ensure long-term survival of Arsi geladas, appropriate management actions should be taken to conserve the species and to minimize human–wildlife conflict.
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Activity Budget, Anthropogenic Disturbances, Diet, Gelada Baboon, Human–Wildlife Conflicts