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

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 spa...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anna M. Bracken, Charlotte Christensen, M. Justin O'Riain, Ines Fürtbauer, Andrew J. King
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-05-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9963
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:2045-7758