Positive and Negative Interactions with Humans Concurrently Affect Vervet Monkey ( Chlorocebus pygerythrus ) Ranging Behavior Abstract Many nonhuman primates adjust their behavior and thrive in human-altered habitats, including towns and cities. Studying anthropogenic influences from an animal’s perspective can increase our understanding of their behavioral flexibility, presenting important information for human–wildlife cohabitation management plans. Currently, research on anthropogenically disturbed wildlife considers either positive or negative aspects of human–wildlife encounters independently, highlighting a need to consider potential interactions between both aspects. Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) are a suitable species to address this gap in research as they tolerate urbanization; however, they are understudied in urban landscapes. We conducted this study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where vervet monkeys are commonly found throughout the anthropogenic landscape. Here we determined, from a monkey’s perspective, how the frequency and nature of human–monkey interactions, both positive (human food availability) and negative (human–monkey aggression), affected vervet monkey ranging patterns in an urban environment. We assessed the movement patterns of three groups of urban vervet monkeys over 1 year, analyzing both 95% and 50% kernel density estimates of their home ranges alongside daily path lengths and path sinuosities every month using generalized linear mixed models. Overall, we found that human interactions within the urban landscape affected all measures of ranging to some degree. The core home ranges of vervet monkeys increased with a higher rate of positive human encounters, and their total home range increased with an interaction of both positive and negative human encounters. Furthermore, vervet monkeys were less likely to respond (i.e., increase daily path length or path sinuosity) to human aggression when food rewards were high, suggesting that effective management should focus on reducing human food foraging opportunities. Our results highlight the complex interplay between positive and negative aspects of urban living and provide guidance for managers of human–nonhuman primate interactions.

Correction to: How Aging Affects Grasping Behavior and Pull Strength in Captive Gray Mouse Lemurs ( Microcebus murinus ) The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the authorgroup section. Author Grégoire Boulinguez-Ambroise's given name and surname were inadvertently interchanged.

Habitat Use in a Population of the Northern Muriqui ( Brachyteles hypoxanthus ) Abstract Habitat loss and fragmentation are known to restrict the movements of primates, including their ability to expand their home ranges. These effects are especially strong at high densities, where home range overlap can result in high rates of agonistic intergroup encounters over range defense. We investigated habitat use and range defense in a population of northern muriquis (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) at the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural – Feliciano Miguel Abdala, in Minas Gerais, Brazil from August 2010 to July 2013. The four groups in this isolated population used 878 ha of forest, with home ranges exhibiting high interannual fidelity in location and low intergroup overlap. Core areas represented 13–29% of the respective home ranges and, except for one group, showed only moderate to low interannual fidelity in successive years. Of 130 intergroup encounters recorded in 2010–2011, significantly more occurred in core areas that overlapped with the range of another group than in areas of home range overlap or areas used exclusively by one group. Daily path lengths of the one group used in assessing range defensibility varied little (1075–1132 m) across years and relative to home range diameter did not meet the criteria for defensibility. However, the occurrence of independent subgroups, combined with a mean monthly detection distance of 242 m, provides strong evidence of range defensibility. These findings point to the importance of fission–fusion dynamics for intergroup range defense, particularly in primates living at high densities in fragmented habitats.

Including Habitat Country Scientists in all Aspects of Research

Toward More Equitable and Inclusive Spaces for Primatology and Primate Conservation

The Contributions to Primatology of Colin P. Groves (1942–2017): Corecipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Primatological Society, 2018

The Effect of Dominance Rank on the Distribution of Different Types of Male–Infant–Male Interactions in Barbary Macaques ( Macaca sylvanus ) Abstract In several cercopithecine species males exhibit a specific type of male–infant–male interaction during which two males briefly manipulate an infant. These interactions typically occur after a male carrying an infant (infant holder) approaches or is approached by another male who is not holding an infant (infant nonholder). The agonistic buffering and relationship management hypotheses explain these interactions as a tool to establish and maintain social bonds among males. Both hypotheses predict that males preferentially use the opportunity to interact and bond with males dominant to themselves. However, the agonistic buffering hypothesis predicts that males preferentially initiate male–infant–male interactions with the highest ranking males available, whereas the relationships management hypothesis predicts that males are more likely to interact with males that are close to them in rank. To test these predictions, we collected data on 1562 male–infant–male interactions during 1430 hours of focal observation of 12 infants in one group of wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in Morocco. Using generalized linear mixed-effect models we found that males preferably initiated interactions with males that were dominant to them. However, we observed this effect only for interactions initiated by the infant holder. In interactions initiated by non-holders, the receiver’s relative rank did not predict the frequency of interactions. Males also initiated more interactions with males close in rank to themselves than distantly ranked males. Our results support the relationship management hypothesis, but also indicate that the different types of male–infant–male interactions may require different explanations.

Exploring Local Perceptions of and Attitudes toward Endangered François’ Langurs ( Trachypithecus francoisi ) in a Human-Modified Habitat Abstract Understanding local community attitudes toward wildlife is critical for making context-sensitive conservation planning and management decisions that may facilitate better human–wildlife coexistence. We conducted questionnaire-based interviews with local households in Qinglong Village of Mayanghe National Nature Reserve (MNNR) in China from March to August 2015. We used a mixed analysis technique based on a theoretical framework of categorical variables to explain attitudes to investigate the key factors that influenced local attitudes toward Endangered François’ langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi). We found that 53% (40, N = 75) of interviewees liked François’ langurs presence around the village, 27% did not, and 20% were neutral. Respondents with favorable attitudes to langurs associated them mainly with tangible benefits from local tourism and their positive aesthetic and emotional values. Respondents with negative attitudes to langurs associated them with tangible costs such as crop feeding and the destruction of their houses. Over half (N = 9) of respondents with neutral attitudes associated langurs with various cost and benefit trade-offs. Overall, local people tended to have slightly negative perceptions of the langurs’ impacts at the household level, while they had very positive perceptions of their impacts at the community level. Ordinal logistic regression models revealed that age, gender, and impact perceptions were significantly associated with local residents’ attitudes toward the langurs at the household and community levels. We suggest that such socioeconomic monitoring efforts should be periodically conducted in protected areas such as MNNR, especially in the context of rapid economic and infrastructure development.

Female Power in Verreaux’s Sifaka ( Propithecus verreauxi ) Is Based on Maturity, Not Body Size Abstract Conflicts between individuals are common among animals, with power dynamics often biased toward a particular sex. However, individuals across species exert power differently depending on the primary source of that power. Dominance-based power depends on fighting ability (e.g., greater body size) whereas leverage-based power depends on resources that cannot be taken by force (e.g., mating opportunities). Both can change in relative importance during development. We examined the development and base of female-biased power structures in Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) by analyzing the effects of reproductive maturity and body mass on intersexual conflict outcomes. We used data on four social groups at Ankoatsifaka Research Station in Kirindy Mitea National Park collected from 2007 to 2016, which included 483 decided agonistic encounters with both behavioral and morphometric data available. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the effects of age, body mass, and female reproductive maturity on conflict outcome. Power relationships between mature females and males were unambiguously female biased. Female reproductive maturity, and not body mass, predicted intersexual conflict outcomes. Once reproductively mature, females almost never lost to males, except when females had not yet had an infant survive past weaning. Our results are thus consistent with the hypothesis that female leverage characterizes social structures of adult Verreaux’s sifaka more than female dominance. Future studies are needed to explore the influence of other sources of leverage and dominance, however. Similar studies in other primate species will clarify the role of what is often called “dominance” but may actually be leverage-based power.

Interpreting People’s Behavior Toward Primates Using Qualitative Data: a Case Study from North Morocco Abstract People’s perceptions of primates vary across and within cultures and may not be consistent with their behavior toward the primates themselves. We used qualitative data from semistructured and unstructured interviews with shepherds from 10 villages around Bouhachem oak forest in Morocco to describe and discuss shepherds’ behavior when they encounter Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). When macaques enter agricultural fields to feed on crops, mature men trap, attach a marker to them (a hat or a rattle), and release them. In contrast, young men and boys working as shepherds hunt and kill macaques when they encounter them in the forest. We interpret these findings in the context of the historical, social, and cultural factors that underlie these cross-species encounters. We suggest the different ways men behave toward macaques over their lives are related to their age and social status. Understanding that men’s behavior varies, and changes over the life course, we continued to engage positively with shepherds of all ages, sharing general information about the macaques and conducting community projects benefiting villagers’ health. This strategy led shepherds from six villages to stop hunting macaques, with the behavior of young men and boys changing to reflect that of older men. We suggest that gaining a deep, contextualized understanding of the human–primate interface and fostering intrinsic values for a species are effective in gaining communities’ support and fundamental to facilitating changes in people’s behavior in favor of conservation.