Home range,core areas and movement in the ‘critically endangered’ kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji) in southwest Tanzania

Understanding how threatened forest primates use a heterogeneous landscape is essential to ensuring their survival. Kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji) are ‘critically endangered’, arboreal monkeys restricted to two sites in Tanzania. Over 90% of the population lives in the degraded Rungwe‐Kitulo forests of the Southern Highlands. In this study, we present the first comprehensive investigation into daily path length and home range size of kipunji, based on data from four groups followed simultaneously over 70 consecutive days on Mt. Rungwe. The mean daily distance travelled was 1293 m (SE 150.82), and daily distance was not significantly correlated to group size. Using fixed kernel density estimation, an area enclosing 90% of the home range calculated using the ‘reference’ method as a smoothing parameter, measured a mean of 306.18 ha (SE 67), and the core area (50% use) was 86.55 ha (SE 18.73). Using the ‘least‐squares cross validation’ method, the mean home range and core area were 205.45 ha (SE 57.02) and 55.45 ha (SE 14.23) respectively. Home range overlap was extensive, although contact between groups was rare, with >97.30% of all observations within 20 min separated by >250 m. The data strongly suggest that kipunji are not territorial.     

Diet and feeding patterns in the kipunji (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rungwecebus kipunji</Emphasis>) in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands: a first analysis

The diet and feeding behaviour of the kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji) was studied over 45 months, the first dietary analysis for this species. During 9498 h of direct observation of 34 kipunji groups, a list of 122 identified foodplants was recorded. The list represents 60 families, including 64 trees, 30 herbs, 9 climbers, 7 shrubs, 6 lianas, 3 grasses and 3 ferns. Kipunji were observed eating bark, young and mature leaves, ripe and unripe fruits, flowers, pith, seed pods, rhizomes, tubers, shoots and stalks. Invertebrates, fungi, moss, lichen, and soil were also eaten. Macaranga capensis var. capensis, an early successional tree, was the most commonly consumed species, with leaves, leaf stalks, pith, flowers and bark all eaten. We demonstrate that the kipunji is an omnivorous dietary generalist, favouring mature and immature leaves, ripe and unripe fruits and bark in similar proportions, with an almost comparable fondness for leaf stalks and flowers. Kipunji appear to be adaptable foragers able to modify their diet seasonally, being more folivorous in the dry season and more frugivorous in the wet. Whereas more ripe fruit is eaten in the wet season, the proportion of unripe fruit remains similar across the year. The proportion of mature leaves and pith increases throughout the dry season at the expense of ripe fruits and bark, and this may compensate nutritionally for the lack of available dry-season ripe fruits. Relatively more pith is eaten in the dry season, more stalks at the end of the dry and beginning of the wet seasons, and bark consumption increases as the rainfall rises.     

A Reassessment of the Population Size,Demography, and Status of Tanzania’s Endemic Kipunji Rungwecebus kipunji 13 Years on: Demonstrating Conservation Success

International Journal of Primatology - Long-term population data on endangered species are fundamental to measure conservation implementation objectively, but they are rare, especially in remote...