LuiKotale Bonobo Project, Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
SEC Semillero de Evolución Y Conservación, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Cajica, Colombia.
Primates. 2021 Jul;62(4):555-562. doi: 10.1007/s10329-021-00897-8. Epub 2021 May 5.
Predation is a major cause of mortality in non-human primates, and considered a selective force in the evolution of primate societies. Although larger body size is considered as protection against predation, evidence for predation on great apes by carnivores comes from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), and orangutans (Pongo spp.). Here, we describe the first encounter between wild bonobos (Pan paniscus) and a leopard (Panthera pardus). A single leopard was confronted by a group of habituated bonobos for three hours. Two adult males and one adolescent female bonobo actively harassed the leopard, which remained still for most of the encounter and reacted only to close approaches by bonobos. While no predation was observed, their behaviours confirm that bonobos perceive leopards as potential predators. Our report adds novel information to descriptions from other African ape species, and sheds light on the behavioural repertoire of bonobos' anti-predation strategies. For future investigations, we suggest tagging leopards to remotely monitor their movements and allow assessment of encounter rates as one of several factors influencing predation pressure.
捕食是灵长类动物死亡率的主要原因，被认为是灵长类社会进化的一种选择力量。虽然较大的体型被认为可以免受捕食，但有证据表明，大型猫科动物会捕食黑猩猩（Pan troglodytes）、大猩猩（Gorilla gorilla）和猩猩（Pongo spp.）。在这里，我们描述了野生倭黑猩猩（Pan paniscus）与豹（Panthera pardus）之间的首次相遇。一只单独的豹被一群习惯了的倭黑猩猩对峙了三个小时。两只成年雄性和一只青春期雌性倭黑猩猩积极骚扰豹子，豹子在大部分时间都保持静止，只对倭黑猩猩的近距离接近做出反应。虽然没有观察到捕食行为，但它们的行为证实了倭黑猩猩认为豹是潜在的捕食者。我们的报告增加了来自其他非洲猿类物种描述的新信息，并阐明了倭黑猩猩防御捕食策略的行为组合。对于未来的研究，我们建议给豹子贴上标签，以远程监测它们的运动，并评估遭遇率作为影响捕食压力的几个因素之一。
