Abstract
Findings of regional variations in the behavioral patterns of non-human primates have led to the vigorous study of animal traditions (or culture), which contribute to a biological understanding of diversity in human cultures. Although our knowledge of behavioral variations of the bonobo (Pan paniscus) is limited compared with its sister species, the chimpanzee (P. troglodytes), variations in the prey of this species have been reported across study sites. This study describes evidence of mammals consumed by bonobos in the Iyondji site, which was established in 2010. We found evidence that Iyondji bonobos consumed duikers (Cephalophus dorsalis, C. monticola) and diurnal monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius), which is notable because only anomalures (Anomalurus spp.) are consumed by bonobos in Wamba, a long-term study site established in 1973, located in an area adjacent to Iyondji. Moreover, bonobos do not transfer between the two populations due to the river between the sites. According to our census of duikers and diurnal monkeys, Iyondji bonobos appeared to encounter diurnal monkeys more frequently than did Wamba bonobos. Although humans have apparently had a more pronounced impact on the habitats in Wamba than on those in Iyondji, it remains unclear how such environmental conditions may have contributed to the differences in the prey consumed by bonobos in different sites. Our findings suggest that additional research at various sites could reveal the nature of the variations in the behavior of bonobos.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for research permits, the Centre de Recherche en Ecologie et Foresterie and the University of Kinshasa for their scientific collaboration, and the Forêt des Bonobos, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), and the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) for various types of support of our work in the Iyondji Community Bonobo Reserve. We also thank local assistants in Iyondji and Wamba, members of the Wamba Committee for Bonobo Research, and the Primate Research Institute (PRI) of Kyoto University for support in the field and at their offices; we are grateful to Dr. Yoshihiro Nakashima for advice on camera traps. We would like to express our special gratitude to Dr. Gottfried Hohmann for useful comments and valuable information at Lui Kotale. This study was financially supported by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment Global Environment Research Fund (D-1007 to Furuichi), the JSPS HOPE project of the PRI of Kyoto University (to Matsuzawa), a US Fish and Wildlife Service Assistance Award (96200-0-G017 to AWF), a MEXT special Grant (“Human evolution”), and the JSPS Strategic Young Overseas Visits Program for Accelerating Brain Circulation (S2508).
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Sakamaki, T., Maloueki, U., Bakaa, B. et al. Mammals consumed by bonobos (Pan paniscus): new data from the Iyondji forest, Tshuapa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Primates 57, 295–301 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-016-0529-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-016-0529-z