Feeding Ecology, Food Availability and Ranging Patterns of Wild Hamadryas Baboons at Filoha

Abstract

Most hamadryas baboons rely on Acacia species for subsistence in their semidesert habitats. Unlike other hamadryas sites, palm forests at Filoha in Awash National Park, Ethiopia, provide the baboons with a preferred food resource close to a commonly used sleeping site. The baboons are expected to feed on doum palm trees when fruit is available, and this resource use should play a role in ranging patterns. This paper describes the feeding ecology, food availability and ranging patterns of a band of wild hamadryas baboons at Filoha from March 2005 to February 2006. Data on feeding and ranging behavior derive from band scans during all-day follows of baboons, and data on food availability derive from monthly phenological monitoring of frequently consumed food species. The baboons fed predominantly on palms when fruit was available, and preferred the flowers of Acacia senegal to its leaves. There was no relationship between daily path length and the proportion of palm fruit in the baboons’ diet, but changes in the availability of fruit across the Filoha region appear to mirror the baboons’ shifting use of its home range. The large band sizes at Filoha may obscure the effects doum palm fruit might have on ranging patterns.

Variation of hair cortisol concentrations among wild populations of two baboon species (Papio anubis, P. hamadryas) and a population of their natural hybrids

“…Their canyon-based range lacks both the wider, more productive riverine strip of the local olive baboon habitat and the doum palm groves exploited by the hamadryas at Filoha (Nagel 1973;Bergman and Beehner 2004;Swedell et al 2008;Schreier 2010). Exploiting the hybrid range also requires substantial energy expenditure in moving up and down between sleeping sites near the top, the river approximately 150 m below, and feeding sites on the canyon wall (Bergman and Beehner 2004).…”

Alternative routes to the leader male role in a multi‐level society: follower vs. solitary male strategies and outcomes in hamadryas baboons

“…Five hamadryas bands are known to frequent the area. This study focussed on Band 1 [previously referred to as Group 1 in Swedell, 2002Swedell, , 2006, a habituated band occupying a home range of over 40 km 2 encompassing several sleeping sites [Schreier, 2009[Schreier, , 2010Swedell, 2002]. Band 1 was studied intermittently from 1996 to mid 2002 and regularly since then by L. Swedell, J. Saunders, A. Schreier, and M. Pines assisted by T. Tesfaye and B. Davis.…”

<b>The relationship between artificial food supply and natural food selection in two troops of commensal Hamadryas Baboons <I>Papio hamadryas</I> (Mammalia: Primates: Cercopithecidae) in Saudi Arabia</b>

“…These ranging and social patterns have often been attributed to the scarce and widely dispersed distribution of food resources in their semi-desert habitats (Kummer 1968;Sigg & Stolba 1981;Swedell 2002Swedell , 2006Schreier 2010;Schreier & Swedell 2012a). Hamadryas Baboons rely on Acacia species for subsistence throughout their range (Kummer 1968;Nagel 1973;Kummer et al 1981;Al-Safadi 1994;Schreier 2010).…”

“…At Erer Gota, Acacia species comprised the majority of the diet across seasons, and the Baboons preferred Acacia flowers and grass seeds when they were available (Kummer 1968). At Filoha, Hamadryas Baboons predominantly fed on A. senegal and A. nubica (Swedell et al 2008;Schreier 2010). Saudi Arabian hamadryas populations also feed primarily on Acacia trees and other semi-desert plants such as Grewia spp.…”

“…Band 3 at Filoha, Ethiopia consumed fewer food species during the dry season months and a greater number of species in the wet season (Swedell et al 2008). The baboons at Filoha also fed predominantly on Doum Palm Fruit Hyphaene thebaica-a high quality food source not available elsewhere in hamadryas range-when it was available, and they preferred A. senegal flowers to leaves (Schreier 2010).…”