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Behavioural responses of Diana monkeys to male long-distance calls: changes in ranging, association patterns and activity

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Abstract

Although much is known about the relationship between vigilance, group size and predation risk, behavioural responses to predation risk and their resultant costs are less clear. We investigated the response of Diana monkeys to increased predation risk by looking at behavioural changes associated with male long-distance calls, which are reliably given to certain predators. After male long-distance calls, group spread and nearest-neighbour distance decreased whilst travel and association rates for the group increased. The average height and exposure level of individuals in the group did not change after calls. Individual Diana monkeys changed their behaviour and were more likely to be vigilant or travel and less likely to engage in social or resting behaviours after long-distance calls. In addition, movement rates increased with the number of species the Diana monkeys were associated with. Diana monkey long-distance calls facilitate the joining of groups of other species. Black and white colobus and lesser spot-nosed monkeys were more likely to be in an association following a long-distance call than before. Behavioural responses, such as increased travel or association rates, that reduce foraging efficiency are interpreted as evidence of a non-lethal impact of increased predation risk.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this project was provided by a Wildlife Conservation Research Fellowship, the Leakey Foundation, the Raptor Research Foundation Leslie Brown Memorial Fund, the Peregrine Fund, the Max Planck Institut Seewiesen and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris. We thank the Ministère de la Recherche Scientifique, and Department pour la Protection de la Nature for permission to conduct this work in Taï. We thank the C.S.R.S. in Abidjan and the C.R.E. for logistic support. We also thank Robin Dunbar, Steve Sait, Adrian Treves and two anonymous reviewers for insightful comments on previous versions of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biology, Biosciences Building, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB, Liverpool, UK

    Susanne Shultz

  2. Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (UMR 5554), CC 065, Université Montpellier II, 34095, Montpellier cedex 05, France

    Charlotte Faurie

  3. Ethologie et Ecologie comportementale des Primates, CEPE (CNRS UPR 9010), Université Louis Pasteur, 7 rue de l'Université, 67000 , Strasbourg, France

    Ronald Noë

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  1. Susanne Shultz
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  2. Charlotte Faurie
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  3. Ronald Noë
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Correspondence to Susanne Shultz.

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Communicated by S. Boinski

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Shultz, S., Faurie, C. & Noë, R. Behavioural responses of Diana monkeys to male long-distance calls: changes in ranging, association patterns and activity. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 53, 238–245 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-002-0575-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-002-0575-y

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