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Feeding ecology of a highland population of hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) at Borena-Sayint National Park, northern Ethiopia

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Abstract

Studying the diet and feeding behavior of primates is essential to understanding their ecology and designing effective conservation plans. Despite decades of study on the hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas) in lowland habitats, little is known about the feeding ecology of this species in highland ecosystems. To address this empirical gap, we tracked temporal changes in vegetation abundance and their relation to the dietary choices of hamadryas baboons in highland habitat at Borena-Sayint National Park (BSNP) in northern Ethiopia. We performed behavioral scan sampling on a focal study band of 21–37 hamadryas baboons over a 12-month period. We found that mature and young leaves were the most abundant plant parts throughout the year, while fruits and flowers were the least abundant, with significant seasonal variation that followed the bimodal pattern of rainfall characteristic of the Ethiopian highlands ecosystem. The annual diet of hamadryas baboons at BSNP consisted mostly of fruits (32.0%) and graminoid blades (21.2%), and included 52 food species across 22 families of plants and three families of animals. Food raided from nearby farms accounted for 8.8% of their diet. The availability of fruits and flowers was positively correlated with their consumption, suggesting that these are preferred foods, whereas graminoid blades, and other leaves, appeared to be less preferred foods. The feeding ecology of hamadryas baboons at BSNP differs considerably from that of lowland populations. The well-studied lowland hamadryas baboons in Awash National Park obtain much of their diet from Acacia species and palm fruit, whereas those at BSNP, where Acacia trees are rare and palms are absent, relied on Olinia rochetiana and Rosa abyssinica for a combined 27% of their annual diet. The reliance of hamadryas baboons at BSNP on cultivated crops for nearly one-tenth of their diet leads to conflict with humans and warrants more detailed study so that this issue can be addressed in conservation plans for the area.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Addis Ababa University and Wollo University for financial and logistical support. This research was also supported by grants from Thematic Research for Animal Biodiversity, Primate Conservation Incorporated (grant no. PCI 1267) and Rufford Small Grants Foundation (22256-1). IDEA WILD provided items of field equipment. PJF and NN would like to thank San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance for generous support of their long-term research in Ethiopia. We are grateful to the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, the Amhara Region Environment, Forest and Wildlife Protection and Development Authority, and BSNP administrators for granting permission to conduct this study. We would also like to thank local field assistants Ketema Desalew, Melaku Gizaw, Gashaw Desalew and Teshale Muhe. Lastly, we would like to thank Prof. Masayuki Nakamichi and Dr. Goro Hanya, and two anonymous reviewers for their many valuable comments that greatly improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, College of Natural Sciences, Wollo University, P.O. Box 1145, Dessie, Ethiopia

    Hussein Ibrahim

  2. Department of Zoological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Afework Bekele

  3. Division of Anthropology and Environmental Studies Program, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA

    Peter J. Fashing & Nga Nguyen

  4. Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, Norway

    Peter J. Fashing & Nga Nguyen

  5. Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Debre Berhan University, P.O. Box 445, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia

    Dereje Yazezew

  6. Department of Biology, College of Natural Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Amera Moges

  7. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Vivek V. Venkataraman & Addisu Mekonnen

  8. Department of Wildlife and Ecotourism Management, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Addisu Mekonnen

  9. Department of Microbial, Cellular and Molecular Biology, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Addisu Mekonnen

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  1. Hussein Ibrahim
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  2. Afework Bekele
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  3. Peter J. Fashing
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  4. Nga Nguyen
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  7. Vivek V. Venkataraman
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Correspondence to Hussein Ibrahim.

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Permission to conduct this research project was granted by the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority. This project adhered to the legal requirements of Ethiopia and complied with the American Society of Primatologists’ Principles for the Ethical Treatment of Non-human Primates.

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Ibrahim, H., Bekele, A., Fashing, P.J. et al. Feeding ecology of a highland population of hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) at Borena-Sayint National Park, northern Ethiopia. Primates 64, 513–526 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-023-01077-6

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