Postpartum cessation of urban space use by a female baboon living at the edge of the City of Cape Town

Bracken, A. M., Christensen, C., O'Riain, M. J., Fürtbauer, I. and King, A. J. (2023) Postpartum cessation of urban space use by a female baboon living at the edge of the City of Cape Town. Ecology and Evolution, 13(5), e9963. (doi: 10.1002/ece3.9963) (PMID:37200910) (PMCID:PMC10186196)

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Abstract

Species with slow life history strategies that invest in few offspring with extended parental care need to adapt their behavior to cope with anthropogenic changes that occur within their lifetime. Here we show that a female chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) that commonly ranges within urban space in the City of Cape Town, South Africa, stops using urban space after giving birth. This change of space use occurs without any significant change in daily distance traveled or social interactions that would be expected with general risk-sensitive behavior after birth. Instead, we suggest this change occurs because of the specific and greater risks the baboons experience within the urban space compared to natural space, and because leaving the troop (to enter urban space) may increase infanticide risk. This case study can inform methods used to manage the baboons' urban space use in Cape Town and provides insight into how life history events alter individuals' use of anthropogenic environments.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Bracken, Dr Anna
Creator Roles:
Bracken, A. M.Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft
Authors: Bracken, A. M., Christensen, C., O'Riain, M. J., Fürtbauer, I., and King, A. J.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:Ecology and Evolution
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:2045-7758
ISSN (Online):2045-7758
Published Online:16 May 2023
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2023 The Authors
First Published:First published in Ecology and Evolution 13(5): e9963
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
Data DOI:10.5061/dryad.z34tmpgk1

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