Post-conflict behaviour among wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

Summary

A procedure originally developed for the study of post-conflict behaviour in captive groups was used to study a group of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in the wild. During 5 months, 156 post-conflict observations on victims of agonistic conflicts were collected and compared with matched-control observations. The findings reported previously for a captive group of the same species were confirmed. After a conflict victims scratched themselves more often and received more attacks than in control periods. Reconciliation and redirection were found to be characteristic of post-conflict situations. Their occurrence seemed to follow similar patterns in captivity and in the wild. The frequency of reconciliation, but not that of redirection, seemed to be lower after conflicts over food than in other situations. No evidence for consolation was found. In the wild, victims have the option of leaving the (sub)group in order to avoid the former aggressor. No evidence for this behaviour was actually found, but within the (sub)group victims tended to keep the former aggressor at a distance. Victims also seemed to suffer ecological costs in that they spent less time foraging than in control periods.