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Participant Profiling and Pattern of Crop-Foraging in Chacma Baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) in Zimbabwe: Why Does Investigating Age–Sex Classes Matter?

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Abstract

Transformation and loss of natural habitat to urbanization and agriculture provide new opportunities for primates to feed on anthropogenic food sources. Currently, mitigation strategies fail to target the individuals responsible for initiating and maintaining this behavior. As primates mainly forage on crops in groups, we investigate the crop-foraging behavior of a group of 40 chacma baboons in Zimbabwe from the perspective of collective movements, i.e., when a group of animals move together in the same direction, thus resulting in a change of location. We collected data on 110 crop-foraging events during 35 days in March–April 2014. We recorded baboon movement and behavior with a camcorder and obtained further information through video analysis. Most crop-foraging events involved less than 20% of the troop and lasted less than 3 min. Although crop-foraging parties were composed of all age–sex classes, adult females and particularly adult males initiated most crop-foraging events and made direct movements (without stopping on the road) more often than nonadult participants. Baboons made up to five successive attempts to crop forage in a single crop-foraging event. Neither the number of participants nor the success of the crop-foraging events increased over the successive attempts. Finally, crop-foraging events were more successful and more frequent in unguarded areas than in guarded areas. These results suggest that group members are highly synchronized and that crop-foraging is based on a collective decision such as classical foraging movements. In addition, the short duration of the crop-foraging events might prevent detection of baboons by farmers. The more frequent initiation of crop-foraging by adults compared to nonadults might be explained by greater energetic needs or a greater tendency of adults to take risks. These preliminary data can help inform long-term strategies for farmers to reduce crop losses to baboons, as guarding helps reduce damage but does not prevent it.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted under the CNRS-CIRAD HERD program within the framework of and with the funding support from the CNRS Zone Atelier Hwange (CNRS Hwange LTER) and the Research Platform Production and Conservation in Partnership (RP-PCP). We thank the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Forestry Commission (FC) for providing authorizations to carry out this research. TG was assisted by Spencer Vusile Proffesor (FC). We are grateful to Céline Bret for her fruitful comments on the manuscript. We would like to express our gratitude to the villagers who indirectly participated in that research as well as their traditional leaders for their constant support and enthusiasm. We thank Drs. Noemi Spagnoletti, Matt McLennan, and Kim Hockings for inviting us to contribute to this special issue. We also thank the editor-in-chief, Joanna Setchell, and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments that have improved the manuscript significantly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biogéosciences UMR 6282, CNRS, Université Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, 6 Bd. Gabriel, F-21000, Dijon, France

    Cécile Schweitzer

  2. Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, F-67000, Strasbourg, France

    Tommy Gaillard & Odile Petit

  3. LBBE, UMR 558 CNRS, University Lyon 1, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France

    Tommy Gaillard & Hervé Fritz

  4. Sustainability Research Unit, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa

    Chloé Guerbois & Hervé Fritz

  5. CNRS Zone Atelier Hwange (CNRS Hwange LTER), Dete, Zimbabwe

    Chloé Guerbois, Hervé Fritz & Odile Petit

  6. Social Ecology Unit, Free University of Brussels, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Odile Petit

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  1. Cécile Schweitzer
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  2. Tommy Gaillard
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Correspondence to Odile Petit.

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Handling Editor: Noemi Spagnoletti

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Schweitzer, C., Gaillard, T., Guerbois, C. et al. Participant Profiling and Pattern of Crop-Foraging in Chacma Baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) in Zimbabwe: Why Does Investigating Age–Sex Classes Matter?. Int J Primatol 38, 207–223 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-017-9958-9

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