Variations saisonnières de terrestrialité chez le magot (Macaca sylvanus) dans le site touristique des cascades d’Ouzoud (Maroc)
The Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Today, the total Moroccan population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000 macaques. In Morocco, there are many popular sites where visitors provide food to Barbary macaques. Conservation efforts should con...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Société Francophone de Primatologie
2015-03-01
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| Series: | Revue de Primatologie |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/1916 |
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| Summary: | The Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Today, the total Moroccan population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000 macaques. In Morocco, there are many popular sites where visitors provide food to Barbary macaques. Conservation efforts should consider the seasonal variations in activity budgets, diet and terrestrial behavior of Barbary macaques in tourist sites. In this study, we present data on seasonal changes in terrestriality of different activities of a group of Barbary macaques in the tourist region of Ouzoud, in the central High Atlas of Morocco, from March 2007 to February 2008. We used instantaneous scan sampling at 15-min intervals. The behaviors included in the activity budget were grouped into ten activities and food items into seven categories. Overall activity budget calculated was 55.97 % for terrestrial behavior and 44.03 % for arboreal behavior. The group spent 54.38 % of their feeding time to feed terrestrially and 45.62 % arboreally. There were significant differences between percentage of daily records spent in all behaviors and feeding time spent eating different food categories. Barbary macaques in the study site can adjust the activity budget during the year by varying the time spent on an activity and the frequency of terrestriality of each behavior according to the season. Conservation effort of Barbary macaques should consider the seasonal variations in diet and the effects of tourism and provisioning on terrestriality and activity budgets of populations living in tourist sites. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-3757 |