Threats to observers,keepers, visitors,and others by zoo mangabeys (Cercocebus galeritus chrysogaster)

The facial threats of ten captive golden-bellied mangabeys (Cercocebus galeritus chrysogaster) were categorized by object threatened. Adult males threatened more than did females except when the object was a nonhuman primate in a neighboring cage. Juvenile mangabeys threatened mainly in play within their own enclosures. Keepers and observers did not differ in frequency of being threatened by the mangabeys. Adult female mangabeys seemed more concerned with neighboring cages of nonhuman primates than were the juveniles and the males. Human visitors to the enclosures received by far the most threats of any targets, certainly far more than the observers and keepers. They were treated like interlopers. Keepers were treated like familiar conspecifics, observers like familiar neighbors. The implications of these findings for captive management of primates and for observational methods in behavioral primatology are discussed.