Primate responses to changing environments in the anthropocene

Most primates have slow life-histories and long generation times. Because environmental change is occurring at an unprecedented rate, gene-based adaptations are unlikely to evolve fast enough to offer successful responses to these changes. The paper reviews the most common types of habitat/landscape alterations, the extent of human-primate interactions, and the impact of climate change. It demonstrates how understanding behavioural flexibility as a response to environmental change will be crucial to optimize conservation efforts by constructing informed management plans. Comparisons across species, space, and time can be used to draw generalizations about primate responses to environmental change while considering their behavioural flexibility

Demographic Structure of Zanzibar Red Colobus Populations in Unprotected Coral Rag and Mangrove Forests

More than half of the global population of the endangered Zanzibar red colobus (Procolobus kirkii) live outside the single major protected area on Zanzibar Island. We present data on the 2 largest, discrete subpopulations living in unprotected areas at extremes of the species’ range. We compare the size and structure of 11 groups, specifically 6 core groups inhabiting interior, mature forest with 5 peripheral groups living in disturbed/degraded edge habitats. Groups living in southern mangrove forest—a species-poor but more productive and less seasonal habitat than coral rag thicket—had larger group sizes and more heterogeneous age structure, were more stable, and had higher rates of infant survival than did groups in northern coral rag. Group size ranged from 5.5±1.6 SD (the smallest reported for this species) in edge coral rag to 31.2+1.9 SD in core mangroves. Edge groupswere significantly smaller than core groups in northern coral rag while in the south, where all groups had access to mangroves, we found no significant difference in mean group size between edge and core areas. Groups using mangroves exhibited frequent social play, an indicator of habitat quality, and had a higher ratio of births per female per year. We suggest that mangroves are an important refuge and possibly source habitat for Zanzibar red colobus. We urge the conservation of mangrove and remaining coral rag in the unprotected areas described here in an effort to sustain this endemic species throughout its range

Occurrence and transmission of flu-like illness among neighboring bonobo groups at Wamba

Infectious diseases constitute one of the major threats to African great apes. Bonobos (Pan paniscus) may be particularly vulnerable to the transmission of infectious diseases because of their cohesive grouping and frequent social and sexual interactions between groups. Here we report two cases of a flu-like illness and possible transmission of the illness among neighboring wild bonobo groups at Wamba, DR Congo. The first flu-like outbreak started in the PE group on July 28, 2013, 2 days after they had encounters with the BI and PW groups. All PE members, except for one infant, subsequently developed flu-like symptoms, including coughing and running nose. The second flu-like outbreak occurred in the E1 group on October 14, 2013, after E1 had encountered the PE group and the two groups stayed together from October 7 to 11. Eleven out of the 15 observed party members developed symptoms over the next 4 days. The pathogens underlying the two outbreaks may have been related as two temporary immigrant females, who had previously shown symptoms while in the PE group, stayed briefly in the E1 group during the second outbreak, but did not show any symptoms