Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rushing for “burned” food: Why and how does a group of patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) reach freshly burned areas?

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Primates Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recently, considerable attention has been paid to animal adaptations to anthropogenic environments, such as foraging in burned areas where plants are promoted to regenerate by anthropogenic burning. However, among primates, reports on the utilization of resources that are available immediately after burning have been limited to a few primate species. In this study, we investigated and compared the activity budgets and food categories of a group of patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) in freshly burned areas by comparing them with those in previously burned areas and unburned areas. We also assessed the proportion of time spent in the freshly burned area before and after the fire: GPS collars were fitted to five of the six adults in the group, and their patterns when they traveled toward freshly burned and unburned feeding areas were compared. Patas monkeys spent more time in freshly burned areas after the fire, and they visited such areas mostly for feeding, particularly on roasted seeds of Cissus populnea. Furthermore, patas monkeys traveled faster and in a more synchronized way toward freshly burned areas. This “apparent goal-directed” travel began at least 1 h before arriving. Results indicate that the group recognized freshly burned areas as valuable, and the monkeys were able to travel in a goal-directed manner to them despite their variable locations. We suggest that smoke from freshly burned areas provides a visual cue with which to orient to the burned areas. Our results also support the notion that some primates are flexible enough to adapt to and benefit from anthropogenic environmental changes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

This study does not apply and thus no statement is provided on data availability.

References

  • Altmann SA (1979) Baboon progressions: order or chaos? A study of one-dimensional group geometry. Anim Behav 27:46–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Society of Mammalogists (1998) Guidelines for the capture, handling, and care of mammals as approved by the American Society of Mammalogists. J Mammal 74:1416–1431

    Google Scholar 

  • Arbonnier M (2004) Trees, shrubs and lianas of West African dry zones. CIRAD, Margraf, Montpellier, Weikersheim

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow J, Haugaasen T, Peres CA (2002) Effects of ground fires on understorey bird assemblages in Amazonian forests. Biol Cons 105:157–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell RHV (1971) A grazing ecosystem in the Serengeti. Sci Am 225:86–93

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Bell WJ (1991) Searching behaviour: the behavioural ecology of finding resources. Springer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Boinski S (2000) Social manipulation within and between troops mediates primate group movement. In: Boinski S, Garber PA (eds) On the move: how and why animals travel in groups. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 421–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolker BM, Brooks ME, Clark CJ, Geange SW, Poulsen JR, Stevens MHH, White JSS (2009) Generalized linear mixed models: a practical guide for ecology and evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 24:127–135

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer SM (1978) The Chimps of Mt. Asserik, Random House, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks M, Bolker B, Kristensen K, Maechler M, Magnusson A, McGillycuddy M (2023) Package ‘glmmtmb.’ R Packag Vers 1:7

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne RW (2000) How monkeys find their way: Leadership, coordination, and cognitive maps of african baboons. In: Boinski S, Garber PA (eds) On the move: how and why animals travel in groups. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 491–518

    Google Scholar 

  • Calenge C (2006) The package “adehabitat” for the R software: a tool for the analysis of space and habitat use by animals. Ecol Model 197:516–519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2006.03.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chism J, Rogers W (1997) Male competition, mating success and female choice in a seasonally breeding primate (Erythrocebus patas). Ethology 103:109–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chism C, Rowell TE (1986) Mating and residence patterns of male patas monkeys. Ethology 72:31–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chism C, Rowell TE (1988) The natural history of the patas monkeys. In: Gautier-Hion A, Bourliére F, Gautier JP, Kingdon J (eds) A primate radiation: evolutionary biology of the African Guenons. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 412–438

    Google Scholar 

  • Cochrane MA (2002) Spreading like wildfire: tropical forest fires in Latin America and the Caribbean: prevention, assessment and early warning. Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) United Nations Environment Programme, Panama.

  • D’Eon RG, Delparte D (2005) Effects of radio-collar position and orientation on GPS radio-collar performance, and the implications of PDOP in data screening. J Appl Ecol 42:383–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Fiore A, Suarez SA (2007) Route-based travel and shared routes in sympatric spider and woolly monkeys: cognitive and evolutionary implications. Anim Cogn 10:317–329

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen C (2007) Why do they burn the ‘bush’? Fire, rural livelihoods, and conservation in Zambia. Geogr J 173:242–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everson CS, Everson TM (1987) Factors affecting the timing of grassland regrowth after fire in the montane grasslands of Natal. S Afr for J 142:47–52

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Garber PA, Brown E (2006) New perspectives in the study of Mesoamerican primates: Distribution, ecology, behavior, and conservation. In: Estrada A, Garber PA, Pavelka MSM, Luecke L (eds) Use of landmark cues to locate feeding sites in wild capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus): an experimental field study. Springer, Boston, pp 311–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Harel R, Loftus JC, Crofoot MC (2021) Locomotor compromises maintain group cohesion in baboon troops on the move. Proc R Soc B 288:20210839

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison MJ (1983) Patterns of range use by the green monkey, Cercopithecus sabaeus, at Mt. Assirik. Senegal Folia Primatologica 41:157–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison XA (2015) A comparison of observation-level random effect and Beta-Binomial models for modelling overdispersion in Binomial data in ecology & evolution. PeerJ. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1114

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison XA, Donaldson L, Correa-Cano ME, Evans J, Fisher DN, Goodwin CED, Robinson BS, Hodgson DJ, Inger R (2018) A brief introduction to mixed effects modelling and multi-model inference in ecology. PeerJ 6:e4794

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hartig F, Lohse L (2022) DHARMa: Residual Diagnostics for Hierarchical (Multi-Level / Mixed) Regression Models (0.4.6). https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=DHARMa

  • Herbert-Read JE (2016) Understanding how animal groups achieve coordinated movement. J Exp Biol 219:2971–2983

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Herzog NM, Parker CH, Keefe ER, Coxworth J, Barrett A, Hawkes K (2014) Fire and home range expansion: a behavioral response to burning among savanna dwelling vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops). Am J Phys Anthropol 154:554–560

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herzog NM, Parker C, Keefe E, Hawkes K (2020) Fire’s impact on threat detection and risk perception among vervet monkeys: implications for hominin evolution. J Hum Evol 145:102836

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hockings KJ, Anderson JR, Matsuzawa T (2012) Socioecological adaptations by chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus, inhabiting an anthropogenically impacted habitat. Anim Behav 83:801–810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humle T, Hill C (2016) People–primate interactions: implications for primate conservation. In: Wich SA and Marshall AJ (eds) An introduction to primate conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 219–240

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell LA (1998) Diet for a small primate: insectivory and gummivory in the (large) patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas pyrrhonotus). Am J Primatol 45:381–398

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell LA, Pruetz JD, Lewis M, Young TP (1998) Locomotor activity differences between sympatric patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) and vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops): implications for the evolution of long hindlimb length in Homo. Am J Phys Anthropol 105:199–207

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell LA, Pruetz JD, Musyoka NB, Young TP (1999) Comparing measures of travel distances in primates: methodological considerations and socioecological implications. Am J Primatol 48:87–98

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs A, Watanabe K, Petit O (2011) Social structure affects initiations of group movements but not recruitment success in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Int J Primatol 32:1311–1324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe KE, Isbell LA (2009) After the fire: benefits of reduced ground cover for vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). Am J Primatol 71:252–260

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jang H, Boesch C, Mundry R, Ban SD, Janmaat KR (2019) Travel linearity and speed of human foragers and chimpanzees during their daily search for food in tropical rainforests. Sci Rep 9:11066

    Article  ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Janmaat KR, Byrne RW, Zuberbühler K (2006) Evidence for a spatial memory of fruiting states of rainforest trees in wild mangabeys. Anim Behav 72:797–807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarman PJ (1974) The social organization of antelope in relation to their ecology. Behaviour 58:215–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King AJ, Cowlishaw G (2009) Leaders, followers, and group decision-making. Commun Integr Biol 2:147–150

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • King AJ, Sueur C (2011) Where next? Group coordination and collective decision making by primates. Int J Primatol 32:1245–1267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawson GW, Jenik J, Armstrong-Mensah KO (1968) A study of a vegetation catena in Guinea savanna at Mole Game Reserve (Ghana). J Ecol 56:505–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee PC (2010) Sharing space: Can ethnoprimatology contribute to the survival of nonhuman primates in human-dominated globalized landscapes? Am J Primatol 72:925–931

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lüdecke D, Ben-Shachar MS, Patil I, Waggoner P, Makowski D (2021) performance: an R package for assessment, comparison and testing of statistical models. J Open Source Softw 6:3139

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Makowski D, Ben-Shachar M, Patil I, Lüdecke D (2020) Estimation of Model-Based Predictions, Contrasts and Means. CRAN.

  • McLennan MR, Spagnoletti N, Hocs KJ (2017) The implications of primate behavioral flexibility for sustainable human–primate coexistence in anthropogenic habitats. Int J Primatol 38:105–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milton K (2000) Quo vadis? Tactics of food search and group movement in primates and other animals. In: Boinski S, Garber PA (eds) On the move: how and why animals travel in groups. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 375–417

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakagawa N (2000) Foraging energetics in patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) and tantalus monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops tantalus): implications for reproductive seasonality. Am J Primatol 52:169–185

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nakagawa N (2003) Difference in food selection between patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) and tantalus monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops tantalus) in Kala Maloue National Park, Cameroon, in relation to nutrient content. Primates 44:3–11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nishikawa M, Suzuki M, Sprague DS (2021) Activity synchrony and travel direction synchrony in wild female Japanese macaques. Behav Proc 191:104473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Normand E, Boesch C (2009) Sophisticated Euclidean maps in forest chimpanzees. Anim Behav 77:1195–1201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noser R, Byrne RW (2007) Travel routes and planning of visits to out-of-sight resources in wild chacma baboons, Papio ursinus. Anim Behav 73:257–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peres CA (1999) Ground fires as agents of mortality in a Central Amazonian Forest. J Trop Ecol 15:535–541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pillot MH, Deneubourg JL (2010) Collective movements, initiation and stops: diversity of situations and law of parsimony. Behav Proc 84:657–661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pochron ST (2001) Can concurrent speed and directness of travel indicate purposeful encounter in the yellow baboons (Papio hamadryas cynocephalus) of Ruaha National Park, Tanzania? Int J Primatol 22:773–785

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2022) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org

  • Rasmussen DR (1983) Correlates of patterns of range use of a troop of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus). II. Spatial structure, cover density, food gathering, and individual behaviour patterns. Anim Behav 31:834–856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhine RJ (1975) The order of movement of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus). Folia Primatol 23:72–104

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts AI, Roberts SGB (2015) Gestural communication and mating tactics in wild chimpanzees. PLoS ONE 10:e0139683

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Saito C (1996) Dominance and feeding success in female Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata: effects of food patch size and inter-patch distance. Anim Behav 51:967–980

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salmi R, Presotto A, Scarry CJ, Hawman P, Doran-Sheehy DM (2020) Spatial cognition in western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla): an analysis of distance, linearity, and speed of travel routes. Animal Cognition 23:545–557.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt K, Adu-Nsiah M (1993) The vegetation of Mole National Park. Forest Resource Management Project Report No.14. Accra, Ghana: Forestry Commission of Ghana Wildlife Division

  • Sih A, Ferrari MC, Harris DJ (2011) Evolution and behavioural responses to human-induced rapid environmental change. Evol Appl 4:367–387

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair ARE (1977) The African Buffalo. University of Chicago, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Strandburg-Peshkin A, Farine DR, Crofoot MC, Couzin ID (2017) Habitat and social factors shape individual decisions and emergent group structure during baboon collective movement. Elife 6:e19505

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Strier KB (2017) What does variation in primate behavior mean? Am J Phys Anthropol 162:4–14

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stueckle S, Zinner D (2008) To follow or not to follow: decision making and leadership during the morning departure in chacma baboons. Anim Behav 75:1995–2004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sueur C, Petit O (2008) Shared or unshared consensus decision in macaques? Behav Proc 78:84–92

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Treves A (2009) The human dimensions of conflicts with wildlife around protected areas. In: Michael JM, Jerry JV, Perry JB, Daniel JD, Esther AD (eds) Wildlife and society: the science of human dimensions. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 214–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Van de Vijver CADM, Poot P, Prins HH (1999) Causes of increased nutrient concentrations in post-fire regrowth in an East African savanna. Plant Soil 214:173–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vieira EM, Marinho-Filho J (1998) Pre-and post-fire habitat utilization by rodents of Cerrado from central Brazil. Biotropica 30:491–496. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.1998.tb00086.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was permitted by the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission of Ghana, and we especially owe our gratitude to Richard Gyimah, AG. Director, Stakeholder and Ecotourism. We are grateful to the staff of the Mole National Park, especially Ali Baggio Mahama, Park Manager, and Bona Kyiire, Assistant Park Manager, for providing accommodation and supporting our research. We are deeply grateful to Kapori Martin S. Dabara for assistance in finding and following patas monkeys each day. We also thank Jahini Bahanyouw for assisting in capturing work, and Timdana Robert Geli for identifying the foods of patas monkeys. We appreciate Miho Murayama for providing us with information to begin our research in Ghana. We are grateful to Goro Hanya, the associate editor, and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments during the review. We also thank the members of the Laboratory of Human Evolution, Kyoto University, Michio Nakamura for correcting the draft, and Tsubasa Yamaguchi, for advising on the analytical methods. This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant (20J23285 to Maho Hanzawa) and JSPS KAKENHI grant (19H05591to Kaori Kawai).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Evolution Studies, Department of Zoology, Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Maho Hanzawa & Naofumi Nakagawa

  2. Wildlife Management Research Center, Hyogo / Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Tanba, Japan

    Yoshiki Morimitsu

  3. Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    Erasmus H. Owusu

  4. School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    Richard D. Suu-Ire

Authors
  1. Maho Hanzawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yoshiki Morimitsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Erasmus H. Owusu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard D. Suu-Ire
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Naofumi Nakagawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization: MH (lead); Formal analysis: MH (lead); Funding acquisition: MH (equal), YM (equal), NN (equal); Investigation: MH (lead), YM (equal), RDSI (equal), NN(equal), EHO (supporting); Methodology: MH (lead), YM (supporting); Visualization: MH (lead); Writing–original draft: MH(lead); Writing–review and editing: MH (lead), NN (equal); Project administration: EHO(lead), RDSI (lead), NN (equal), Supervision: NN (lead).

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maho Hanzawa.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 379666 KB)

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hanzawa, M., Morimitsu, Y., Owusu, E.H. et al. Rushing for “burned” food: Why and how does a group of patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) reach freshly burned areas?. Primates 65, 103–113 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-023-01113-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-023-01113-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation