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Between-group encounters among bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata)

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Abstract

Socioecological theory suggests that between-group competition is an important factor affecting the nature of primate social relationships. Between-group encounters in macaques may involve female resource defense, male mate defense, and male resource defense. We observed between-group encounters in two groups (a forest group and a temple group) of bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata). We observed 102 encounters in 875 h of observation of the forest group (1.40 per 12-h day) and 58 encounters in 907 h of observation of the temple group (0.77 per 12-h day). Aggressive interactions between groups occurred in 32.4% and 29.3% of encounters in the forest and temple groups, respectively. Overall, we found little support for the female resource defense hypothesis. Females in both groups rarely participated aggressively in between-group encounters. We found support for the male mate defense hypothesis. For example, males of the forest group were more aggressive during encounters in the mating season than in the non-mating season. Males were also aggressive to females from their own group immediately following encounters. We also found partial support for the male resource defense hypothesis. Encounters in the forest group occurred in a feeding context more often than expected based on time budgets. Also, males in the temple group were more often aggressive in food-related encounters than in other encounters. The findings of this study suggest that socioecological models of primate social relationships need to distinguish male and female strategies during between-group encounters and integrate the resulting functional outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Tamil Nadu Forest Department for permission to conduct research in the Anaimalai Hills, and the management of Waterfall Tea Estates for logistical support. We thank the U.S. National Science Foundation (grant no.: INT-9901439) for funding this research and the American Institute of Indian Studies for helping to obtain a research visa. We are grateful to M.A. Anand, M.S. Chaitra, H.N. Kumara, A.K. Sharma and H.S. Sushma for their assistance in the field. We thank I. Bernstein, E. Johnson, and three anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This research project complied with Indian Law and was approved by the University of Georgia Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

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  1. Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, MSC 8E0698, Georgia State University, 33 Gilmer Street, Atlanta, GA 30303–3088, USA

    Matthew A. Cooper

  2. School of Biological and Earth Sciences, John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Filippo Aureli

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Mysore, Mysore, India

    Mewa Singh

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  1. Matthew A. Cooper
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  2. Filippo Aureli
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Correspondence to Matthew A. Cooper.

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Communicated by T. Czeschlik

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Cooper, M.A., Aureli, F. & Singh, M. Between-group encounters among bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 56, 217–227 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0779-4

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