Abstract
Predation on vertebrates is infrequent in gibbons. In a 14-month field study of the central Yunnan black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) at Mt. Wuliang, Yunnan, China, we observed gibbons attacking, killing and eating giant flying squirrels (Petaurista philippensis). During 845 h of observation on one study group, the gibbons attacked giant flying squirrels 11 times, and succeeded in 4 cases. Although all members of the group attempted to attack the squirrels, all four successful attacks were made by the same adult female. The victims were infants in three cases and a juvenile or sub-adult in one case. Black crested gibbons also attacked adult giant flying squirrels by grabbing their long tails and throwing them from the canopy, but they failed to catch or kill the prey in three cases observed. Passive meat sharing occurred in three out of four successful cases. Besides hunting giant flying squirrels, the black crested gibbons also ate eggs or chicks in two birds’ nests and one lizard.
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Acknowledgments
This study was carried out at the Black Crested Gibbon Monitoring Station on Mt. Wuliang and was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (#30670270), the National Basic Research Program of China (#2003CB415103) and Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (#KSCX2-SW-119). Many thanks are given to anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript. We would like to thank the staff from the Jingdong Nature Reserve Management Bureau for their much needed support. We also acknowledge our field assistants, Mr. Liu Yekun and Mr. Liu Yeyong for their kind help.
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Fan, Pf., Jiang, Xl. Predation on giant flying squirrels (Petaurista philippensis) by black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) at Mt. Wuliang, Yunnan, China. Primates 50, 45–49 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-008-0110-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-008-0110-5