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Primate Crop Feeding Behavior, Crop Protection, and Conservation

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Abstract

Many species across a range of primate genera, irrespective of dietary and locomotory specializations, can and will incorporate agricultural crops in their diets. However, although there is little doubt that rapid, extensive conversion of natural habitats to agricultural areas is significantly impacting primate populations, primate crop foraging behaviors cannot be understood solely in terms of animals shifting to cultivated crops to compensate for reduced wild food availability. To understand fully why, how, and when primates might incorporate crops in their dietary repertoire, we need to examine primate crop foraging behavior in the context of their feeding strategies and nutritional ecology. Here I briefly outline current debates about the use of terms such as human–wildlife conflict and crop raiding and why they are misleading, summarize current knowledge about primate crop foraging behavior, and highlight some key areas for future research to support human–primate coexistence in an increasingly anthropogenic world.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Drs. Noemi Spagnoletti, Matt McLennan, and Kim Hockings for inviting me to contribute to this special issue. I 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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  1. Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK

    Catherine M. Hill

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Hill, C.M. Primate Crop Feeding Behavior, Crop Protection, and Conservation. Int J Primatol 38, 385–400 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-017-9951-3

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