Setie Ewnetu

and 1 more

Chalachew Alemneh

and 1 more

The Grivet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiop aethiops) is an old-world primate Monkey species distributed on the east of the White Nile in Sudan to Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti. The study on activity patterns and feeding habits of Grivet Monkeys in and around Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resource was carried out from February 2021 to August 2022 during both the wet and dry season. Instantaneous scan sampling method was used at 15-min intervals for up to 10 minutes duration. During each scan, individuals were recorded as performing one of the following activities: feeding, moving, resting, grooming, playing, and others. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as One-way ANOVA, Kruskal Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U-test were used to analyze data.On average, the greatest proportion of the activity time budget of the grivet monkey was devoted to feeding (29.5±0.6%), followed by resting (27±0.8%), moving (26±0.2%), grooming (9±0.2%), playing (5.5±0.6%) and the least time spent on other social activities (3±0.2%). They feed 42 food sources grouped into 41 plant species and one insect. On average, the forb of leaf 32±3.2% comprised the highest percent proportion of their diet, whereas, roots (0.3±0.2%) and insects (0.5±0.4%) comprised the least. Psidium guava was the top preferred plant species and Callistemon linearis was the least preferred plant species by the grivet monkey. Due to the existence of low quality of food in human dominated area, Grivet monkey most of their time spent on feeding activity. Therefore, concerned body and regional governments need to take action to stop deforestation of the natural forests and sustainable management must be needed for the top preferred plant species. Keywords/ Phrase: Activity, Behavior, Proximate analysis, Time budget.

Degu Abate

and 1 more

The populations of the endemic gelada outside protected areas are less studied and population estimates are not available. As a result, a study was conducted to investigate population structure and distribution of geladas in Kotu forest and associated grasslands, in Northern Ethiopia. The study area was stratified into five habitats namely; grassland, wooded grassland, plantation forest, natural forest and bushland based on dominant vegetation type. Each habitat type was further divided into blocks and total counting technique was employed to count the individuals of geladas. The total mean number of gelada in the Kotu forest was 229 ± 6.11. The mean ratio of male to female was 1:1.178. Age composition of geladas comprised: 113 (49.34%) adults, 77 (33.62%) sub adults and 39 (17.03%) juveniles. The mean group size of gelada was 18± 2.0, out of which 2.5± 0.5 (13.89%) was all- male unit (AMU) and 15.5± 1.5 (86.11%) was one male unit (OMU) social system. The average band size was 45.0± 2.53. The highest number of geladas was recorded from grassland habitat 68 (29.87%) and the lowest from plantation forest habitat 34 (14.74%). Even though, the sex ratio was female biased, the proportion of juveniles to other age classes was very low, indicating negative consequences for the future viability of the gelada populations in the area. Geladas were widely distributed over open grassland habitat. For sustainable conservation of the geladas in the area there is a need for integrated management of the area with special attention on the conservation of the grassland habitat.

Melkam Getachew

and 1 more

An endemic mammal mountain nyala has declined substantially in number and range of its distribution. Thus, Ecological monitoring is essential for conservation. Past ecological studies on mountain nyala focused more on demography, dynamics and social organization of the species but less attention was paid to the diet composition and preferences. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess diet composition and preferences of mountain nyala in Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP), Ethiopia. The study was conducted from September 2017 – January 2018 during both wet and dry seasons. Direct observation scan sampling method was employed to collect behavior data in two habitat types namely; Gaysay grassland and woodland (park head quarter) of BMNP. Scan sampling of target group selected were carried out for 10 minutes in 15 minutes interval and routine follow up were carried out (early morning and late afternoon) to identify plant species consumed by the species and the frequency of consumption of each plant species consumed. Nutrient proximate analysis of representative plant species from highly, moderately and least preferred plant species were conducted to understand governing principle that determine selective grazing and browsing. A total of 32 plant species out of 85 plant species available classified under 18 families were recorded during the study period. Mountain nyala are selective mixed feeders (mostly grazers) and predominantly folivores. Moreover, a clear seasonal dietary pattern was found in this study. In general the findings of this study imply that preference for forage species could be explained by nutritional quality. Consequently, increasing the abundance of preferred plant species is expected to benefit mountain nyala.