Golden-bellied mangabeys (Cercocebus chrysogaster) consume and share mammalian prey at LuiKotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

Predator–prey dynamics are an important aspect of community ecology, but predation events are often difficult to observe. Among African primates, observations of mammal predation are particularly uncommon and generally restricted to a few ape and cercopithecoid species. I report five observations of mammal predation by golden-bellied mangabeys (Cercocebus chrysogaster) living in rainforest at the LuiKotale study site, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over 46 all-day follows, mangabeys from one group caught and consumed four duikers (Cephalophinae spp.) and one Alexander’s cusimanse (Crossarchus alexandri). Individuals begged from the feeding individual in three of five observations. I observed one successful attempt at begging, which resulted in an adult female tolerating removal of blue duiker by a juvenile. These are the first detailed observations of mammal predation and food sharing by Cercocebus mangabeys and suggest mammals that feed alongside mangabeys may balance predation risk against social foraging benefits. Food sharing is rarely observed in most cercopithecine monkeys and could provide a useful metric to examine socio-ecological patterns of food acquisition.

Golden‐bellied mangabeys (Cercocebus chrysogaster) exhibit a larger home range and longer travel distances than those of bonobos (Pan paniscus) at LuiKotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo

“…Similarly, individuals in M2 group spent long periods (30–60 min) feeding terrestrially on hard‐shelled seeds surrounding large trees, which may provide a relatively stable food source over time. Moreover, we observed a relatively high rate of meat‐eating by mangabeys in M2 group, including preying on medium‐sized mammals such as duikers (McLester, 2022). Vertebrate meat is an important source of protein, as well as micronutrients that are otherwise scarce in plant foods, and may help mangabeys meet nutritional requirements if staple plant foods are unavailable.…”

“…The largest of the Cercocebus mangabeys, these medium-sized, predominantly terrestrial monkeys are endemic to central Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and are patchily distributed across a relatively small area (ca. 96,000 km 2 ) of swamp forest habitat south of the Congo River (McLester et al, 2022). Groups are relatively large and typically comprise 50-70 individuals, but can total as many as >100 individuals (Ehardt & Butynski, 2013).…”

The Presence of Mycobacterium leprae in Wild Rodents

“…In the Amazon, the areas of primary, secondary, and grassland forests comprise a remarkable diversity of organisms, sharing the same environment. Small and mediumsized animals such as turtles, reptiles, rodents, and especially marsupials are relevant from an ecological point of view, playing a significant role as seed dispersers, pollinators, regulators of populations of vertebrates, smaller invertebrates, and plants, and occupy basal positions in the trophic web, serving as prey for larger vertebrates [3][4][5][6][7][8]. In particular, several species of primates consume other vertebrates in a similar way to these animals; consumption of these vertebrates by nonhuman primate animals has been observed in Africa (about 22 species of cercopithecoid monkeys and other apes) within a human context of consumption of these species [9,10].…”