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First report of a leopard (Panthera pardus)-bonobo (Pan paniscus) encounter at the LuiKotale study site, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Corredor-Ospina, N, Kreyer, M, Rossi, G, Hohmann, G and Fruth, B (2021) First report of a leopard (Panthera pardus)-bonobo (Pan paniscus) encounter at the LuiKotale study site, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Primates. ISSN 0032-8332

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Abstract

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.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: 0603 Evolutionary Biology, 0608 Zoology
Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history
Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions: Biological & Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher: Springer
Related URLs:
Date Deposited: 19 May 2021 11:25
Last Modified: 04 Sep 2021 05:27
DOI or ID number: 10.1007/s10329-021-00897-8
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15024
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