Title: Démographie et régime alimentaire d’une troupe de Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus en habitat marginal au Nord Sénégal
Abstract:A troop of Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus has been studied in the sahelian zone of Northern Senegal from February 1975 to July 1976, a period during which a Nile rat (Arvicanthis niloticus) outbreak t...A troop of Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus has been studied in the sahelian zone of Northern Senegal from February 1975 to July 1976, a period during which a Nile rat (Arvicanthis niloticus) outbreak took place. The demographic structure of the troop at the start of the observation period and the changes which occured subsequently are described in detail, together with the seasonal and yearly variations in diet. The 1975 breeding season was very successfull, all the adult females bearing and successfully raising an infant. On the contrary, the breeding success was very low and the mortality rate very high, in 1976. This low production of young and high mortality of infants and adults can probably be ascribed to competition with the Nile rats, whose food was similar to that of the monkeys, and to the delayed rains of 1976. Competition with rodents led to an increased consumption of animal foods, including predation upon the rats themselves.Read More