Domestic dogs present a human-induced threat to thick-tailed bushbabies (Otolemur crassicaudatus) in Northern South Africa.

No abstract available.The Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, through the Primate Action Fund.http://primates.squarespace.com/african_primateshj2024Mammal Research InstituteZoology and EntomologyNon

Seasonal drivers of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in an African strepsirrhine primate, the thick-tailed greater galago (Otolemur crassicaudatus)

As global non-human primate populations show dramatic declines due to climate change, land transformation and other anthropogenic stressors, it has become imperative to study physiological responses to environmental change in order to understand primate adaptability and enhance species conservation strategies. We examined the effects of seasonality on faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations of free-ranging male and female thick-tailed greater galagos (Otolemur crassicaudatus) in an Afromontane habitat. To do so, we established an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for monitoring fGCM concentrations in the species using a biological validation. Following this, faecal samples were collected each month over the course of a year from free-ranging males and females situated in the Soutpansberg Mountains, Limpopo, South Africa. Multivariate analyses revealed lactation period was a driver of fGCM levels, whereas sex and food availability mostly influenced seasonal fGCM concentrations in the total population. Thus far, the results of this study show that drivers of fGCM levels, an indication of increased adrenocortical activity, inO. crassicaudatus are numerous and complex within the natural environment. The species may be adapted to such conditions and an extreme change to any one component may result in elevated fGCM levels. This increases our understanding of strepsirrhine primate physiology and offers initial insights into species adaptability to a challenging environment.The National Science Foundation, USA, the University of Colorado, Boulder (USA) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute National Zoological Garden.http://conphys.oxfordjournals.orgdm2022Mammal Research InstituteParaclinical SciencesZoology and Entomolog

Hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) parasitizing bushbabies (Mammalia: Galagidae) in a biodiversity hotspot of northern South Africa

DATA AVAILABILITY: Data will be made available on request.South Africa has six species of primates, three of which are bushbabies (family Galagidae). Very little information is available on their parasites due to the lack of longitudinal studies, although Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Amblyomma hebraeum and Haemaphysalis elliptica were previously reported from the brown greater galago (Otolemur crassicaudatus) in South Africa. During 2014–2019, 83 O. crassicaudatus (70 live-trapped and 13 deceased animals) were checked for the presence of hard ticks, all from Limpopo Province, South Africa. Seventy-three of 83 (88 %) galagos were found to be tick-infested. Among ixodid genera, Haemaphysalis had the highest prevalence (46 % of the bushbabies), followed by Rhipicephalus (25 %) and Ixodes (18 %). In total, ten tick species were identified. Importantly, all infestations were monospecific. Ticks occurred on various body parts of bushbabies, thus no predilection site was noted. In conclusion, while previously only three ixodid species were known to infest bushbabies in South Africa, the present study showed that these animals can be parasitized by a much broader range of hard ticks.US National Science Foundation, the University of Colorado (USA), the University of Pretoria, and the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (RSA).https://www.elsevier.com/locate/ttbdishj2024Mammal Research InstituteParaclinical SciencesSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein

First report of the thick-tailed bushbaby (Otolemur crassicaudatus) being preyed upon by an endemic carnivore (Caracal caracal) in South Africa

To date, there have been few published reports of Caracal spp. (or other non-domestic carnivores) preying upon nocturnal strepsirrhine primates anywhere in continental Africa. However, in South Africa, most studies of caracal diet have been conducted outside of the known geographic range of South Africa’s nocturnal primates. Here we report Otolemur crassicaudatus (the greater or thick-tailed bushbaby/galago) remains recovered from the stomach of a caracal, collected in Limpopo province, South Africa, in 2018, which included portions of the limbs, tail, skull and dentition, allowing confident taxonomic assignment. Sixty-seven carnivores (equal in size or larger than O. crassicaudatus), including one other caracal, also had stomach contents examined between 2012 and 2019 in northern South Africa. None included O. crassicaudatus remains, making this the first documented example of this non-human primate species being preyed upon by an endemic carnivore; kills of O. crassicaudatus by domestic dogs, though not being consumed, have previously been documented. These data expand the knowledge of the diet of caracal in southern Africa and may signal an expanding caracal dietary regime and possible behavioural changes in O. crassicaudatus, such as increased terrestrial movement, with increasing human actions and reduction of endemic forests and habitats.The US National Science Foundation, the University of Limpopo (RSA), the University of Colorado-Boulder (USA), the University of Pretoria (RSA) and the National Zoological Gardens (SANBI) of South Africa.https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tafz202022-08-04hj2022Mammal Research Institut

Supplementary Material for: Beyond the Gallery Forest: Contrasting Habitat and Diet in <b><i>Lemur catta</i></b> Troops at Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve

Ring-tailed lemurs have been studied intensively in the Parcel 1 gallery forest of Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve. Here, we report on lemur groups in a mixture of deciduous dry forest and spiny forest just 5 km to the west. Compared to Parcel 1, Parcel 2 (P2) has a lower density of <i>Tamarindus indica</i>, a major dietary plant species for gallery forest lemurs<i>.</i> Recent studies in drier habitats have called into question the association of lemur density and tamarind presence. In order to address this question, we measured forest structure and composition of plant plots between parcels and conducted lemur feeding observations. The trees and shrubs within the parcels did not differ in height or diameter at breast height, but the frequencies of plant species that were common between parcels were significantly different. Numbers of feeding observations on foods common to both parcels did not differ, but their relative rankings within parcels did. Frequencies of food plants corresponded to earlier reports of lemur population densities. However, we found that the ring-tailed lemur diet is a mixture of plants that are eaten in abundance regardless of frequency and those that are locally available. In terms of their reliance on <i>Tamarindus</i>, P2 animals appear intermediate between those in gallery forests and nontamarind sites

Environmental effects on nocturnal encounters of two sympatric bushbabies, Galago moholi and Otolemur crassicaudatus, in a high-altitude South African northern mistbelt montane habitat

Temperate living primates cope with a variety of environmental stressors, which may vary by body mass. We studied two sympatric galagos, the thick-tailed greater galago, Otolemur crassicaudatus (1.5 kg) and the southern lesser galago, Galago moholi (146 g), living in a South African northern mistbelt forest. We used 75 nightly encounter walks using thermal imaging from July 2017 to June 2018 to locate galagos (245 thick-tailed greater galago encounters, 207 southern lesser galago encounters). For each species’ encounters we documented survey location, growing season, insect and gum availability, ambient temperature, temperature season, rainfall, humidity, night length, hour, moon phase and fraction of moon illumination. We encountered the southern lesser galago at both cooler and warmer temperatures, later in the night, and more often during greater lunar illumination, e.g., they were lunarphilic. We had few encounters of the thick-tailed greater galago during very cold and very warm temperatures, more encounters earlier in the night, and more encounters during periods of low lunar illumination, e.g., they were lunarphobic. Our results can be understood in terms of body mass differences. A smaller body mass requires greater and more consistent energy, meaning the southern lesser galago needs to both maintain energy needs across different temperature regimes and to forage more extensively later in the night to attain enough food to support them throughout the following day. The thick-tailed greater galago’s larger body mass may buffer them during colder periods and allow them to forage earlier in the night. Being either lunarphobic or lunarphilic may relate to activity patterns of their predators. The southern lesser galago are visually oriented insect predators and being lunarphilic may facilitate both predator detection and enhance successful insect predation. Understanding how body mass may facilitate or hinder physiological and behavioral responses to environmental stressors is thus relevant to understanding species’ resilience to climate change.The National Science Foundation, USA and the University of Colorado, Boulder (USA).https://link.springer.com/journal/107642025-04-11hj2024Mammal Research InstituteParaclinical SciencesSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-15:Life on lan