Diet, Activity, Habitat Use, and Ranging of Two Neighboring Groups of Food‐Enhanced Long‐Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

Abstract

We conducted observations of two neighboring groups of food-enhanced long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) over a period of one year. We examined their diet, behavior, habitat use, and ranging and how within-population variability reflected differential utilization of anthropogenic food resources. The group that consumed more anthropogenic food spent less time feeding on wild fruits and flowers, less time resting, and more time locomoting. They used forest habitats less often, and had a larger total home range and mean monthly home range. Some of these results contrasted with previous studies of food-enhanced primates which reported that food-enhancement resulted in smaller home ranges, shorter daily ranges, less time traveling and feeding, and more time resting. These contrasting patterns may relate to the nature of anthropogenic foods. In most studies of food-enhanced primates, anthropogenic food resources were abundant and concentrated but the macaques in this study used anthropogenic foods mainly from a few refuse sites where they had limited access, and from dispersed and irregular human provisioning. The group consuming more anthropogenic food therefore showed more spatially dispersed feeding activity and home range use, an effect that was likely further enhanced by lower natural food resource availability within their home range. The Singapore macaque population shows small-scale variability in feeding and ranging behavior, contributing to the complexity of their adaptive variability in a human-altered habitat. Our findings could have important implications for mitigating human-macaque conflict as measures applied at a higher spatial or population level may achieve highly inconsistent results, intensifying the challenges for wildlife managers.

Effect of Provisioning on the Temporal Variation in the Activity Budget of Urban Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in West Sumatra, Indonesia

“…However, this is not always the case, because provisioned primates have also been shown to spend more time feeding as they have access to natural food resources [Boug et al, 1994;Kogenezawa and Imaki, 1999;Ram et al, 2003;Sabbatini et al, 2008;Ilham et al, 2017]. For example, Sha and Hanya [2013a] found that a group of long-tailed macaques that consumed more anthropogenic food, but also ate natural foods, spent more time feeding than a neighboring one that ate less human-derived food. We speculate that this was the case for our study.…”

“…In the highly provisioned site, the amount of provisioned food is proportional to the number of tourists [Brotcorne, 2009;Fuentes et al, 2011]. Under this condition, as their foraging strategy, the macaques increase the time they spend searching for and eating the food [Ménard and Vallet, 1997;Sha and Hanya, 2013a]. At GM, more than 1,000 tourists visit in a month, and they give approximately 520 kg of provisioned food a month, whereas the corresponding value at GP was only about 48 kg a month [Ilham et al, 2017].…”

“…We omitted infants from recording because they were dependent on their mothers. Based on previous studies Sha and Hanya, 2013a], we categorized activities into six groups: (1) feeding, defined as processing and ingesting food into the mouth, followed by chewing and swallowing without storing the food in the cheek pouches, (2) food searching, defined as movement pattern for finding foods, (3) moving, defined as movement activity (such as walking, running, jumping, and climbing) that was not followed by searching or feeding, (4) resting, such as sleeping, sitting, standing, or lying, (5) agonistic behavior, including branch shaking, baring of the teeth, threat posture with shoulders positioned forward and upright, and active chasing, and (6) grooming, defined as picking out debris and ectoparasites using fingers and mouth.…”

“…Many primates close to humans systematically consume anthropogenic foods including garbage, offerings, and food provisioned by local people and tourists [Asquith, 1989;Wheatley et al, 1996;Fuentes et al, 2011;Malaivijitnond et al, 2011;Aggimarangsee, 2013]. The inclusion of human food in the diet can have significant effects on activity budgets [Brennan et al, 1985;Fa, 1986;Altmann and Muruthi, 1988;O'Leary and Fa, 1993;Saj et al, 1999;Sha and Hanya, 2013a]. Several studies have shown that the amount of provisioned food availability is proportional to the number of tourists [Ram et al, 2003;Ilham et al, 2017].…”

“…In human-altered environments, the influence of seasonality on primate activity is reduced in the presence of human foods [Fa, 1986;Sha and Hanya, 2013b]. Provisioned food, garbage, and agricultural products are the major food sources for primates living in human-altered environments [Saj et al, 1999;Unwin and Smith, 2010;Fuentes et al, 2011;Malaivijitnond et al, 2011;Sha and Hanya 2013a]. Provisioned food resources tend to be high-calorie, easily digestible, spatiotemporally predictable and available in greater proportions than natural resources [Muruthi et al, 1991;Wong, 1994;Saj et al, 1999].…”