Abstract
Eastern black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza), or guerezas, have long been considered to be one of the most folivorous primates. I conducted a study of the feeding ecology of two guereza groups (T and O) over an annual cycle in the Kakamega Forest of western Kenya. I found that the annual diets of both groups comprised mostly of leaves (T: 48%, O: 57%) though fruit (T: 44%, O: 33%) also accounted for a substantial portion of the diet. In the six months when fruit was most abundant, fruit consumption constituted an average of 58% of T-group's monthly diet and 42% of O-group's monthly diet. In contrast to most previous studies of colobines, in which seeds were the primary fruit item consumed, almost all of the fruit eaten by guerezas at Kakamega consisted of whole fruits. At least 72% of the whole fruits consumed by T-and O-groups were whole fruits from trees in the Moraceae family, which dominates the tree family biomass at Kakamega. Unlike at sites where guerezas consumed fruit primarily when young leaves were scarce, at Kakamega guerezas ate fruit in accordance with its availability and irrespective of the availability of young leaves. My findings demonstrate that guerezas are more dietarily flexible than was previously known, which may help to explain why the species can survive in such a wide variety of forested habitats across equatorial Africa.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Andrews, P. J., and Aiello, L. (1984). An evolutionary model for feeding and positional behaviour. In Chivers, D. J., Wood, B. A., and Bilsborough, A. (eds.), Food Acquisition and Processing in Primates, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 429–466.
Bocian, C. M. (1997). Niche separation of black-and-white colobus monkeys (Colobus angolensis and C. guereza) in the Ituri Forest. Ph. D. thesis, City University of New York, New York.
Brooks, T. M. (1999). Time lag between deforestation and bird extinction in tropical forest fragments. Conserv. Biol. 13: 1140–1150.
Chivers, D. J. (1994). Functional anatomy of the gastrointestinal tract. In Davies, A. G. and Oates, J. F. (eds.), Colobine Monkeys: Their Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 205–227.
Clutton-Brock, T. H. (1975). Feeding behaviour of red colobus and black and white colobus in East Africa. Folia Primatol., 23: 165–207.
Copeland, R. S., Okeka, W., and Corbet, P. S. (1996). Treeholes as larval habitat of the dragonfly Hadrothermis camarensis (Odonata: Libellulidae) in the Kakamega Forest, Kenya. Aquatic Insects 18: 129–147.
Cords, M. (1987). Mixed Species Association of Cercopithecus Monkeys in the Kakamega Forest, Kenya. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. Berkeley, Univesity of California Press, 117: 1–109.
Curtin, S. H. (1980). Dusky and banded leaf monkeys. In Chivers, D. J. (ed.), Malayan Forest Primates: Ten Years' Study in Tropical Rain Forest, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 105–145.
Dasilva, G. L. (1994). Diet of Colobus polykomos on Tiwai Island: selection of food in relation to its seasonal abundance and nutritional quality. Int. J. Primatol. 15: 655–680.
Davies, A. G. (1984). An Ecological Study of the Red Leaf Monkey (Presbytis rubicunda) in the Dipterocarp Forest of Northern Borneo. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.
Davies, A. G. (1991). Seed-eating by red leaf monkeys (Presbytis rubicunda) in dipterocarp forest of northern Borneo. Int. J. Primatol. 12: 119–144.
Davies, A. G., Oates, J. F., and Dasilva, G. L. (1999). Patterns of frugivory in three West African colobine monkeys. Int. J. Primatol. 20: 327–357.
Decker, B. S. (1994). Effects of habitat disturbance on the behavioral ecology and demographics of the Tana River red colobus (Colobus badius rufomitratus). Int. J. Primatol. 15: 703–737.
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1987). Habitat quality, population dynamics, and group composition in colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza). Int. J. Primatol. 8: 299–329.
Dunbar, R. I. M., and Dunbar, E. P. (1974). Ecology and population dynamics of Colobus guereza in Ethiopia. Folia Primatol. 21: 188–208.
Fashing, P. J. (1999a). The Behavioral Ecology of an African Colobine Monkey: Diet, Range Use, and Patterns of Intergroup Aggression in Eastern Black and White Colobus Monkeys (Colobus guereza). Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, New York.
Fashing, P. (1999b). Forest guardian. Swara 22: 18–23.
Fashing, P. J. (2001). Activity and ranging patterns of guerezas in the Kakamega Forest: intergroup variation and implications for intragroup feeding competition. Int. J. Primatol. 22: 549–577.
Fashing, P. J., and Cords, M. (2000). Diurnal primate densities and biomass in the Kakamega Forest: an evaluation of census methods and a comparison with other forests. Am. J. Primatol. 50: 139–152.
Gatinot, B. L. (1978). Characteristics of the diet of the West African red colobus. In Chivers, D. J. and Herbert, J. (eds.), Recent Advances in Primatology, Vol. 1, Academic Press, London, pp. 253–255.
Gautier-Hion, A., and Michaloud, G. (1989). Are figs always keystone resources for tropical frugivorous vertebrates? A test in Gabon. Ecology 70: 1826–1833.
Groves, C. P. (1973). Notes on the ecology and behaviour of the Angola colobus (Colobus angolensis P. L. Sclater 1860) in N. E. Tanzania. Folia Primatol. 20: 12–26.
Hladik, C. M. (1977). A comparative study of the feeding strategies of two sympatric species of leaf monkeys: Presbytis senex and Presbytis entellus. In Montgomery, G. G. (ed.), The Ecology of Arboreal Folivores, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp. 373–395.
Harrison, M. J. S. (1986). Feeding ecology of black colobus, Colobus satanas, in central Gabon. In Else, J. G., and Lee, P. C. (eds.), Primate Ecology and Conservation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 31–37.
Kaplin, B. S., and Moermond, T. C. (2000). Foraging ecology of the mountain monkey (Cercopithecus l'hoesti): implications for its evolutionary history and use of disturbed forest. Am. J. Primatol. 50: 227–246.
Kay, R. N. B., and Davies, A. G. (1994). Digestive physiology. In Davies, A. G., and Oates, J. F. (eds.), Colobine Monkeys: Their Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 229–249.
Kinnaird, M. F., O'Brien, T. G., and Suryadi, S. (1996). Population fluctuation in Sulawesi red-knobbed hornbills: tracking figs in space and time. The Auk 113: 431–440.
Kool, K. M. (1989). Behavioural Ecology of the Silver Leaf Monkey, Trachypithecus auratus sondaicus, in the Pangandaran Nature Reserve, West Java, Indonesia. Ph.D. thesis, University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Kruger, O., Affeldt, E., Brackmann, M., and Milhahn, K. (1998). Group size and composition of Colobus guereza in Kyambura Gorge, Southwest Uganda, in relation to chimpanzee activity. Int. J. Primatol. 19: 287–297.
Lambert, J. E. (1998). Primate digestion: Interactions among anatomy, physiology, and feeding ecology. Evolutionary Anthropology 7 (1): 8–20.
Leskes, A., and Acheson, N. H. (1971). Social organization of a free-ranging troop of black and white colobus monkeys (Colobus abyssinicus). In Kummer, H. (ed.), Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Primatology, Zurich 1970, Volume 3, Behavior, S. Karger, Basel, pp. 22–31.
Maisels, F., Gautier-Hion, A., and Gautier, J.-P. (1994). Diets of two sympatric colobines in Zaire: More evidence on seed-eating in forests on poor soils. Int. J. Primatol. 15: 681–701.
Marsh, C. W. (1981). Diet choice among red colobus (Colobus badius rufomitratus) on the Tana River, Kenya. Folia Primatol. 35: 147–178.
McKey, D. B., Gartlan, J. S., Waterman, P. G., and Choo, G. M. (1981). Food selection by black colobus monkeys (Colobus satanas) in relation to food chemistry. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 16: 115–146.
Milton, K. (1980). The Foraging Strategy of Howler Monkeys: A Study in Primate Economics. Columbia University Press, New York.
Mitchell, A. H. (1994). Ecology of Hose's langur, Presbytis hosei, in Mixed Logged and Unlogged Dipterocarp Forest of Northeast Borneo. Ph.D. thesis, Yale University, New Haven.
Moreno-Black, G. S., and Maples, W. R. (1977). Differential habitat utilization of four Cercopithecidae in a Kenyan forest. Folia Primatol. 27: 85–107.
Mturi, F. A. (1993). Ecology of the Zanzibar red colobus monkey, Colobus badius kirkii (Gray, 1868), in comparison with other other red colobines. In Lovett, J. C., and Wasser, S. K. (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 243–266.
Newton, P. (1992). Feeding and ranging patterns of forest Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus). Int. J. Primatol. 13: 245–285.
Oates, J. F. (1974). The Ecology and Behaviour of the Black-and-White Colobus Monkey (Colobus guereza Ruppell) in East Africa. Ph.D. thesis, University of London, London.
Oates, J. F. (1977a). The guereza and its food. In Clutton-Brock, T. H. (ed.), Primate Ecology: Studies of feeding and ranging behavior in lemurs, monkeys and apes, Academic Press, New York, pp. 275–321.
Oates, J. F. (1977b). The social life of a black and white colobus monkey, Colobus guereza. Z. Tierpsychol. 45: 1–60.
Oates, J. F. (1988). The diet of the olive colobus monkey, Procolobus verus, in Sierra Leone. Int. J. Primatol. 9: 457–478.
Oates, J. F. (1994). The natural history of African colobines. In Davies, A. G., and Oates, J. F. (eds.), Colobine Monkeys: Their ecology, behavior and evolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 75–128.
Oates, J. F., Davies, A. G., and Delson, E. (1994). The diversity of living colobines. In Davies, A. G., and Oates, J. F. (eds.), Colobine Monkeys: Their ecology, behavior and evolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 45–73.
Oates, J. F., and Trocco, T. F. (1983). Taxonomy and phylogeny of black-and-white colobus monkeys: Inferences from an analysis of loud call variation. Folia Primatol. 40: 83–113.
Oates, J. F., Waterman, P. G., and Choo, G. M. (1980). Food selection by the south Indian leafmonkey, Presbytis johnii, in relation to leaf chemistry. Oecologia 45: 45–56.
Rose, M. D. (1978). Feeding and associated positional behavior of black and white colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza). In Montgomery, G. G. (ed.), The Ecology of Arboreal Folivores, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp. 253–262.
Schenkel, R., and Schenkel-Hulliger, L. (1967). On the sociology of free-ranging colobus (Colobus guereza caudatus Thomas 1885). In Starck, D., Schneider, R. and Kuhn, H. J. (eds.), Neue Ergebnisse der Primatologie, Gustav Fisher, Stuttgart, pp. 185–194.
Silver, S. C., Ostro, L. E. T., Yeager, C. P., and Horwich, R. (1998). Feeding ecology of the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) in northern Belize. Am. J. Primatol. 45: 263–279.
Stanford, C. B. (1991). The capped langur in Bangladesh: behavioral ecology and reproductive tactics. Contributions to Primatology. 26: 1–179.
Starin, E. D. (1991). Socioecology of the red colobus monkey in the Gambia with particular reference to female-male differences and transfer patterns. Ph.D. thesis, City University of New York, New York.
Strier, K. B. (1991). Diet in one group of woolly spider monkeys, or muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides). Am. J. Primatol. 23: 113–126.
Struhsaker, T. T. (1975). The Red Colobus Monkey. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Struhsaker, T. T., and Oates, J. F. (1975). Comparison of the behavior and ecology of red colobus and black-and-white colobus monkeys in Uganda: A summary. In Tuttle, R. H. (ed.), Socioecology and Psychology of Primates, Mouton, The Hague, pp. 103–123.
Struhsaker, T. T. (1978). Food habits of five monkey species in the Kibale Forest, Uganda. In Chivers, D. J and Herbert, J. (eds.), Recent Advances in Primatology, vol. 1, Academic Press, New York, pp. 225–248.
Ullrich, W. (1961). Zur biologie und soziologie der Colobusaffen (Colobus guereza caudatus Thomas 1885). Der Zoologischer Garten 25: 305–368.
Wass, P. (ed.). (1995). Kenya's Indigenous Forests: Status, Management and Conservation. The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K.
Waterman, P. G., and Kool, K. M. (1994). Colobine food selection and plant chemistry. In Davies, A. G. and Oates, J. F. (eds. ), Colobine Monkeys: Their Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 251–284.
Waterman, P. G., Ross, J. A. M., Bennett, E. L., and Davies, A. G. (1988). A comparison of the floristics and leaf chemistry of the tree flora in two Malaysian rain forests and the influence of leaf chemistry on populations of colobine monkeys in the Old World. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society 34: 1–32.
Yeager, C. P. (1989). Feeding ecology of the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus). Int. J. Primatol. 10: 497–530.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fashing, P.J. Feeding Ecology of Guerezas in the Kakamega Forest, Kenya: The Importance of Moraceae Fruit in Their Diet. International Journal of Primatology 22, 579–609 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010737601922
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010737601922