Diet and Feeding Behaviour of Kloss Gibbons on Siberut Island, Indonesia

Abstract

Kloss gibbons are the same size and live in the same type of habitat as several other gibbon species, and consequently its diet would be expected to be similar to its closely related congeners. The diet is described in terms of the weight of food items, faecal remains, and time devoted to different foods. Aspects of feeding behaviour are then examined, such as changes in food choice through the day, the relationship between fruit size to feeding bouts and feeding rates, and the effect of forest type quality on ranging. A comparison is made between gibbon species. The diet of Kloss gibbons appears to differ from that of other gibbons in that it contained no tree leaves, and arthropods were a major part of the diet. Possible reasons for this are discussed.

A Conservation Action Plan for the Mentawai Primates

“…The reserve was increased in size to 56,500 ha in 1979. In 1980, the World Wildlife Fund (1980) produced "Saving Siberut: A Conservation Master Plan," based largely on the research of Anthony Whitten, Jane Whitten, and Alan House, who conducted their graduate research on Siberut on Kloss's gibbons, squirrels, and vegetation, respectively (Whitten 1980(Whitten , 1982a(Whitten , 1982b(Whitten , 1982c. The recommendations in this publication attempted to reconcile the needs of the traditional societies living on Siberut with the need to protect the wildlife, and suggested: 1) socio-economic development, to make a more effi cient subsistence economy; 2) a system of land-use zones, allowing some traditional use in some areas while creating nature reserves in others; 3) declaring Siberut Island as a United Nations Education, Scientifi c, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Reserve; 4) making forestry practices more sustainable; 5) ecotourism; 6) wildlife management, to allow for sustainable hunting practices; 7) conservation education; and 8) a system of evaluation and monitoring to ensure the success of these measures (Whitten et al 1979;World Wildlife Fund 1980).…”

Model Konservasi Primata Endemik Di Cagar Biosfer Pulau Siberut, Sumatera Barat

“…H. klossii dengan home range 33 ha di hutan primer memiliki 26 pohon tempat tidur (Whitten, 1980). Di areal bekas tebangan lima tahun masih mempunyai 28 pohon berdiameter ≥ 40 cm yang potensial sebagai habitat primata dengan pohon tempat tidur dan pohon pakan yang cukup (Tabel 2).…”

“…Berdasarkan home range (daerah jelajah) H. klossii seluas 33 ha, berupa hutan primer, kepadatan populasinya 10,5 individu per km 2 dengan besar kelompok rata-rata 3,7 individu (Whitten, 1980). Angka populasi ini berbeda dengan Tenaza (1975) dan Tilson (1974 dalam Whitten (1980) di mana populasi H. klossii di hutan primer antara 25-30 individu per km 2 dengan home range antara 15-20 ha.…”

“…Besarnya anggota kelompok didukung perilaku H. klossii yang lebih bersifat omnivora dan tingginya kerapatan pohon sumber pakan yang tersedia (Whittaker, 2005). H. klossii dengan teritori 65% dari daerah jelajah bertujuan untuk mempertahankan keragaman jenis pohon pakan dan buah-buahan yang tersedia menurut musim (Whitten, 1980). Meratanya sebaran sumber pakan dengan potensi tinggi menyebabkan kurangnya pertahanan kolompok terhadap daerah jelajah, sehingga terjadi tumpang-tindih daerah jelajah mencapai lebih 40% (Bismark, 2006).…”

Seed dispersal by long-tailed macaques

“…However, there is overlap, and macaques share these and other primate fruits with gibbons and orangutans. The latter are seed swallowers [Galdikas, 1982;Whitten, 1982] and probably more effective in seed dispersal than seed-spitting macaques [Chapman, 1995]. The geographical range of macaques extends beyond that of the apes, but, perhaps significantly, few primate fruits extend beyond the historical range of gibbons.…”