Colobus breed about once every two years though breeding is not strictly seasonal. Births are timed so that weaning occurs when food is most plentiful. Young are born after a month gestational period and both mother and father will care for the infant.
Females of the group will also assist with parenting as well. Colobus monkeys are listed as least concern by the IUCN. Although, in the past colobus have been hunted excessively for their beautiful fur, as well as for skin and meat, leading to its extermination in some areas.
Today, its greatest threat is habitat loss as forests are cleared for timber and agriculture. Therefore we measured inspiration duration IR and expiration duration ET of the whole vocal emission for each defined group. Statistical analyses were performed with Statistica 6. Using univariate statistics, we calculated the median for each measured acoustic parameter per subject. Distribution and relative abundance of primates between the Sassandra and Bandama Rivers.
Our survey efforts encompass 10 most conserved forest fragments extending between the Sassandra and Bandaman Rivers. This region is referred to as Guinean zone, covered by a dense evergreen rain forest. The forest serves as a retreat for the monkeys, and is about 16 ha in size and contiguous to the village. Community elders acted as the guardians of the sacred site and cutting of trees or destruction of vegetation around it is "prohibited". In all these defined aspect, this population is similar to Colobus vellerosus.
Of the 8 diurnal primate taxa that were expected in each of the 7 forests surveyed, we found 0 to 6 taxa per forest Table 1. Dassioko Sud forest reserve presents the highest number of primate taxa relative to the other forest.
Three primate taxa Cercopithecus diana, Cercocebus atys lunulatus, Pan troglodytes inhabiting this forest are among the most threatened primates in West Africa. Black-and-white colobus was encountered at 0. Cercopithecus campbelli and Cercopithecus petaurista were the most common taxa observed. Dassioko Sud and Port Gauthier FR are actually facing severe threats from logging, intensive forest clearance for agriculture purpose and intensive poaching.
Evidence of poaching in Dassioko Sud FC and in Port-Gauthier FC was noted with the presence of poachers in the forest, logging and the observation of used gunshot shells and several poaching paths throughout the forest Figure 3. One meeting has been held every month from December to January in each of the six villages surrounding the forest grove in both formal and informal setting.
These meetings have been attended by prominent leaders and others in each community Figure 3. Educational materials posters, flyers have also been produced and distributed in different villages in addition of the Primate field Guide by John Oates Oates, Four signs indicating the presence of the forest grove and reminding the public of the protected status of the forests and warning people not to cause damage have been placed around the forest Figure 3.
This is illustrated by the numbers of members of local communities that served as plant nursery volunteers Figure 3. The nursery propagates native plants to support the revegetation of the forest grove.
During that period, at least two gun shots were heard per day around or inside the sacred forest. The forest was also severely degraded with a mean number of 1. Student's t-Test was used to test differences between different populations of black-and-white colobus in single acoustic parameters.
The parameters of 24 analyzed calls are summarized in Table 2. They gained experience in the use of field equipment and methodologies, and new insights to biodiversity conservation that will enhance their work as conservation scientists. Based on Booth's map, it might be expected that the form of black-and-white colobus monkey inhabiting this forest complex is Colobus vellerosus rather than dollmani. With the actual transformation of this park and its adjacent forest fragment into cocoa plantations, there is no doubt that the population of black-and-white colobus that has been called dollmani is already extinct.
Black-and-white colobus monkeys spend most of their time searching for food and resting. They live in mixed male and female groups of individuals. There will be an adult male, several females and their offspring. Females remain in the group and form close bonds with each other.
Young males leave the group before they are mature and either join a group of other young males or live alone until they can take over a group of females. The females, however, remain with their birth group for their entire life. Each troop has a well-defined territory, which is defended from other groups. Adult troop members, especially males, make croaking roars that can be heard resonating throughout the forest. Despite their territorial nature, fighting over mates rarely occurs but there is a high infanticide rate when a male leadership role is replaced or taken over.
There is no distinct breeding season, although most mating probably occurs during the rainy season. A female will give birth once every 20 months, on average. Newborns have a pink face and are covered with white fur. At about one month they gradually begin to change color, finally gaining the black and white adult coloration at about three months.
As they mature, they spend a lot of time playing with their mother and certain other adults. In the first month when the infant still has a pink face, they are handled three to five times an hour in resting groups.
However, the infant mortality rate is high even though the young are carefully tended to. Once the young reach seven months, they begin playing with juveniles. The games they play exercise their bodies, and as they get older, these develop into wrestling matches and mock displays.
They are strictly leaf-eaters and spend most of their time in treetops, preferring to eat the tender young leaves found there. However, their complex stomachs enable them to digest mature or toxic foliage that other monkeys cannot. The two species of black and white colobus monkeys are found in Kenya, those that inhabit coastal forests and those in inland high-country areas.
0コメント