The diurnal patterns of behaviour of the wild Barbary macaque Macaca sylvanus

The daily routine of a population of wild Barbary macaques is described. The day journey is mainly on the ground with the animals taking to the trees only for sleeping, resting, avoiding predators and, during some seasons, for feeding. Two methods (based on individual activity records and on social interactions) were used to measure the diurnal distribution of behaviour. In the summer, feeding was bimodally distributed with peaks morning and afternoon. The initiation of social interactions peaked at the same time, owing to the frequent use of agonistic behaviour to maintain individual distance while feeding. The reduction in feeding at midday was accompanied by an increase in allogrooming and resting and in the proportion of animals in the trees. Peaks of friendly approaches and in the initiation of interactions involving unweaned monkeys (excluding play, maternal behaviour and agonistic behaviour) occurred on either side of the midday rest period and in the evening. In the winter, there was no midday rest period; grooming decreased throughout the day while feeding increased. Sexual behaviour was rare during the summer.