Cowlishaw G
Department of Anthropology, University College London
Anim Behav. 1997 Aug;54(2):241-53. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1996.0466.
Baboons face a serious threat of predation from leopards, Panthera pardusand lions, Panthera leoSince trees and cliff faces provide safety from these predators, baboons might use such refuges in order to reduce predation risk. This hypothesis was explored in a study of four groups of chacma baboons, Papio cynocephalus ursinusin a desert population in Namibia (groups ranged between 22 and 55 individuals with one to six adult males). All baboons spent most of their time close by refuges and little time distant from them. This pattern was most accentuated among females in smaller groups. These females spent more time on refuges primarily as a result of greater refuge use during resting and grooming. This pattern was less clear during feeding and travelling, apparently owing to the constraints on refuge use imposed by the nature of these activities. A comparison of refuge use in high-risk and low-risk habitats (after the confounding effects of habitat-specific refuge availability had been removed) suggests that baboons might adopt one of two strategies in high-risk areas; if refuges are widespread they will use refuges more intensively, but if refuges are scarce they will adopt a time-minimizing strategy to leave the area as rapidly as possible. The baboons also increased their vigilance when refuges were distant. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that baboons use refuges to reduce predation risk.
狒狒面临着来自豹（Panthera pardus）和狮子（Panthera leo）的严重捕食威胁。由于树木和悬崖面能提供躲避这些捕食者的安全场所，狒狒可能会利用这些避难所来降低被捕食的风险。在一项对纳米比亚沙漠地区四组东非狒狒（Papio cynocephalus ursinus）的研究中探讨了这一假设（每组有22至55只个体，其中有一至六只成年雄性）。所有狒狒大部分时间都在避难所附近活动，很少远离它们。这种模式在较小群体的雌性中最为明显。这些雌性在避难所上花费更多时间，主要是因为在休息和梳理毛发时更多地使用了避难所。在进食和移动过程中，这种模式不太明显，显然是由于这些活动的性质对避难所使用造成了限制。对高风险和低风险栖息地中避难所使用情况的比较（在消除了特定栖息地避难所可用性的混杂影响之后）表明，狒狒在高风险地区可能会采取两种策略之一；如果避难所分布广泛，它们会更频繁地使用避难所，但如果避难所稀少，它们会采取时间最小化策略，尽快离开该地区。当避难所距离较远时，狒狒也会提高警惕。这些结果与狒狒利用避难所来降低捕食风险的假设一致。
