Chimpanzees have almost hunted one of their prey – the cherry-red colobus monkey – to local extinction . The universe size of it of the red colobus monkey monkey has dropped dramatically , by 89 % between 1975 and 2007 . Since eliminate the crimson colobus monkey population , chimp are turning to new prey , and reduce their population size too .
Some non - human hierarch ( NHPs ) Leigh Hunt other NHPs as prey . The chimpanzees and red colobus monkey monkey are a classical example . In the forest in Kibale National Park , Uganda , chimpanzees predate hard on red colobus monkeys . Researchers find 556 hunts between 1995 and 2014 . 356 of these attacks were directed at red colobus .
In the study , researchers note that “ the identification number of red-faced colobus monkey killed was about 15 clip the number of Colobus guereza , the 2nd most mutual prey , and 15 times the combined number of kills of redtail and gray - cheeked mangabey . ”
Researcher David Watts toldBBC Earth ’s Michael Marshall that the chimpanzees “ have been so in force as predator that they really have knock down the local population . ”
The winner charge per unit for red colobus hunt has been “ remarkably in high spirits ” . As Marshall explains , red colobus are being kill at an incredible pace because these monkeys are select to “ endure their ground ” or else of just running by . While this could work in an even one - to - one scrap , chimpanzees hunt in bombastic radical . In the end , the scarlet colobus does n’t really stand a probability .
investigator countersink out to enquire whether the rapid decline of the red colobus monkey universe is forcing Pan troglodytes to mingle it up and trace for unexampled fair game . They note that chimpanzees are not “ obligate carnivores ” – think they do n’t only eat meat – and most of their diet is comprised of fruit and figs .
Chimpanzees could be retain to hound fair game for meat – even when there ’s a low teemingness – for its nutritionary note value . Meat could also be an important shaft for conjugation and other social relationships within chimpanzee communities .
Red colobus monkey rascal in Uganda . Sam DCruz / Shutterstock .
The study , publish in theInternational Journal of Primatology , found that the rate at which chimpanzees hunting mangabeys and redtails have gradually increase . Researchers chance that after 2002 , when there was a visor in cerise colobus predation , there was an increase in hunt of other groups . The overall hunting has not declined for chimpanzees , which could indicate that the hunting of alternative prey has increased enough to offset the declination in red colobus .
The switch in prey is bad news for rarer monkeys like the pitch-black - and - white colobus , who are also being trace . Watts tell BBC Earth “ I ’ve been here a little over a month . The chimpanzees have hunted quite often in that time . They ’ve hunt down grim - and - white colobus monkey eight times . I ’ve never seen anything like that before . ”
It remains unclear whether the reduced red colobus monkey hunting frequency and increase in prey switching have allowed the population to recover . Renewed farsighted - term sampling of the area from 2006 through 2009 will help to offer an answer , but the data of that study is not yet useable . Researchers are also ineffectual to say whether young chimpanzee who have matured and started to track down on a regular basis since the predation peak in red colobus monkey in 2002 are less efficient than Pan troglodytes who matured earlier as they ’ve had less experience hound them .
[ H / TBBC Earth ]
