Digestibility of a high‐fiber biscuit‐based diet by black and white colobus (Colobus guereza)

Abstract

The acceptability and digestibility of a high-fiber biscuit-based diet was investigated using two adult male Colobus guereza animals. Although the animals were initially reluctant to accept the biscuit, it was eventually readily consumed. Apparent digestion coefficients for the diet (average composition, dry matter basis: 16% crude protein, 25% neutral detergent fiber (NDF), 9.5% acid detergent fiber (ADF), 1.2% acid lignin) determined by total fecal collection were 0.871 for dry matter, 0.813 for NDF, 0.693 for ADF, and 0.208 for acid lignin. Fiber digestive capabilities in C. guereza generally exceeded those reported in ruminant species based on predictive equations. Use of acid lignin and Crz03 as markers underestimated dry matter digestibility by 3.9 and 6.0%, respectively.

Feed intake, digestion and passage of the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) in captivity

“…Dry matter (88.5~ and acid detergent fiber (ADF) digestibility (85.5~ values for the proboscis monkey were similar to coefficients reported for five species of captive langurs and the black-and-white colobus, (76-89~ dry matter digestibility, 68-82~ ADF) (OFTEDAL et al, 1982;ROBINSON et al, 1982;WATKINS et al, 1985;SAKAGUCHI et al, 1991).…”

“…Digestive capabilities of leaf-eating primates have been reported for langurs (BAuCHOP & MARTUCCI, 1968;ROBINSON et al, 1982;SAKAGUCHI et al, 1991), howlers (MILTON et al, 1980) and colobus monkeys (OFTEDAL et al, 1982;WATKINS et al, 1985). Fermentation of CWC in larger colobines theoretically provides for adequate maintenance energy (BAuCHOP & MARTUCCI, 1968), although energy balance has not been quantified directly.…”

Nutrition: Chemical analysis and consistency of faeces produced by captive monkeys (françois langurs,trachypithecus françoisi) fed supplemental fibre

“…The leaf-eating monkeys such as langurs (1, 8), proboscis monkeys (2) and colobus monkeys (7,10) can efficiently utilize cell wall constituents. Indeed, in this study the apparent digestibility of hemicellulose and cellulose ranged between 62-73% and 57-77% of intake, respectively.…”

“…Our data point to an apparent digestibility of lignin of about 35%. Although it is generally accepted that lignin can neither be digested nor fermented, some authors have demonstrated that lignin apparently can be digested by leaf-eating monkeys (2,7,10). However, the observed digestibility of lignin has been ascribed to methodological error (9), as described by Watkins et al (10).Despite this, it cannot be excluded that leaf-eating monkeys have intestinal bacteria capable of breaking down lignin.…”

Nutrition of Primates in Captivity

“…Watkins et al (1985) fed a high-fiber biscuit along with fruits and vegetables to black and white colobus (Colobus guereza). The high-fiber biscuit contained 25% crude protein, 34% NDF, and 12% ADF on a dry basis.…”