Red colobus as prey: the leaping habits of five sympatric Old World monkeys

This study explored the leaping habits of five sympatric Old World monkeys (Colobus badius, Colobus guereza, Cercopithecus ascanius, Cercopithecus mitis and Cercocebus albigena) in an attempt to determine why chimpanzees prefer to hunt red colobus. We videotaped the leaps of the monkeys for 3 months in Uganda's Kibale National Park. Data were collected on leap preparation time as well as several other variables of the leaps. The leap preparation time of red colobus was found to be about double that of the other species studied. This difference is a likely reason why red colobus represent the preferred prey of chimpanzees. The hypothesis that red colobus spend more time in isolated trees than do other species was not supported.