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Ranging behavior of eastern hoolock gibbon (Hoolock leuconedys) in a northern montane forest in Gaoligongshan, Yunnan, China

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Abstract

Generally, food abundance and distribution exert important influence on primate ranging behavior. Hoolock gibbons (genus Hoolock) live in lowland and montane forests in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China. All information about hoolock gibbons comes from studies on western hoolock gibbons (Hoolock hoolock) living in lowland forest. Between August 2010 and September 2011, we studied the ranging behavior of one habituated group of eastern hoolock gibbon (H. leuconedys) living in a seasonal montane forest in Gaoligongshan, Yunnan, China. Results show that the study group did not increase foraging effort, calculated in this study as the daily path length, when fruit was less available. Instead, the gibbons fed more on leaves and decreased traveling to conserve energy. They relied heavily on a single food species in most study months which was patchily distributed within their total (14-month) home range, and during most months they used only a small portion of their total home range. In order to find enough food, the group shifted its monthly home range according to the seasonal availability of food species. To satisfy their annual food requirements, they occupied a total home range of 93 ha. The absence of neighboring groups of gibbons and the presence of tsaoko cardamom (Amomum tsaoko) plantations may also have influenced the ranging behavior of the group. Further long-term studies of neighboring groups living in intact forests are required to assess these effects.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (#31160424), Rufford Small Grant, Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan (2009ZC124 M), and Fauna and Flora International. All research methods adhered to the Chinese legal requirements. We would like to thank Mr. Ai Huai-Sen, Lin Ru-Tao, Li Jia-Hong, and Shi Xiao-Chun from Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve for their needed support. We are very grateful to Dr. Warren Brockelman and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. Dr. Matthew B. Scott and Mr. Davide Fornacca helped us to edit the English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, 671000, People’s Republic of China

    Dao Zhang, Han-Lan Fei, Wen-Mo Sun & Peng-Fei Fan

  2. Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control in Yunnan Province, Southeast Forestry University, Kunming, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China

    Dao Zhang, Sheng-Dong Yuan, Wen-Mo Sun & Liang-Wei Cui

  3. School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui, 230601, People’s Republic of China

    Dao Zhang

  4. College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Yaan, Sichuan, 625014, People’s Republic of China

    Qing-Yong Ni

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  1. Dao Zhang
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  2. Han-Lan Fei
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Correspondence to Liang-Wei Cui or Peng-Fei Fan.

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D. Zhang and H.-L. Fei contributed equally to this paper.

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Zhang, D., Fei, HL., Yuan, SD. et al. Ranging behavior of eastern hoolock gibbon (Hoolock leuconedys) in a northern montane forest in Gaoligongshan, Yunnan, China. Primates 55, 239–247 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-013-0394-y

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