Abstract
As the value of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology in addressing primatological questions becomes more obvious, more studies will include capturing and collaring primates, with concomitant increased risk of adverse consequences to primate subjects. Here we detail our experiences in capturing, immobilizing, and placing GPS collars on six olive baboons (Papio anubis) in four groups and 12 vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in five groups in Kenya. We captured baboons with cage traps and vervets with box traps, immobilized them, and attached GPS collars that were to be worn for 1 year. Adverse consequences from the trapping effort included incidental death of two nonsubjects (an adult female and her dependent infant), temporary rectal prolapse in one baboon, superficial wounds on the crown of the head in two vervets, and failure to recapture/remove collars from two baboons and two vervets. Obvious negative effects from wearing collars were limited to abrasions around the neck of one vervet. A possible, and if so, serious, adverse effect was greater mortality for collared adult female vervets compared with known uncollared adult female vervets, largely due to leopard (Panthera pardus) predation. Collared animals could be more vulnerable to predation because trapping favors bolder individuals, who may also be more vulnerable to predation, or because collars could slow them down or make them more noticeable to predators. Along with recommendations made by others, we suggest that future studies diversify trapping bait to minimize the risk of rectal prolapse, avoid capturing the first individuals to enter traps, test the movement speeds of collared versus noncollared animals, include a release system on the collars to avoid retrapping failure, and publish both positive and negative effects of capturing, immobilizing, and collaring.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | e22997 |
| Journal | American journal of primatology |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Leakey Foundation; University of California, Davis; Wenner‐Gren Foundation, Grant/ Award Number: 8386; Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Grant/Award Number: 23405016; National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Numbers: BCS 99‐03949, BCS 1266389
Funding Information:
The research was conducted under the University of California, Davis IACUC protocol #17477 and Kenya Government NACOSTI permit No. P/15/5820/4650. We thank the Kenya Wildlife Service for local affiliation and the Kenya government for permission to conduct the study. We are also grateful to S. Ekwanga, F. Emojo, W. Fox, M. Gichuru, M. Iwata, W. Longor, D. Simpson, M. Snider, A. Surmat, E. Van Cleave, and K. VanderWaal for field assistance, C. Cizauskas for vervet necropsy assistance, M. Crofoot for the use of her cage traps, L. Frank for renting his vehicle to us, and M. Kinnaird and T. Young for logistical support in the field. We thank F. Bercovitch, T. Jung, and two anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript with their constructive comments and suggestions. Funding was provided by the Wenner‐Gren Foundation (Grant no. 8386) to L. R. B., JSPS KEKENHI (Grant no. 23405016) to A. M. O., and the National Science Foundation (Grant nos. BCS 99–03949 and BCS 1266389), the L. S. B. Leakey Foundation, and the Committee on Research, University of California, Davis, to L. A. I.
Funding Information:
The research was conducted under the University of California, Davis IACUC protocol #17477 and Kenya Government NACOSTI permit No. P/15/5820/4650. We thank the Kenya Wildlife Service for local affiliation and the Kenya government for permission to conduct the study. We are also grateful to S. Ekwanga, F. Emojo, W. Fox, M. Gichuru, M. Iwata, W. Longor, D. Simpson, M. Snider, A. Surmat, E. Van Cleave, and K. VanderWaal for field assistance, C. Cizauskas for vervet necropsy assistance, M. Crofoot for the use of her cage traps, L. Frank for renting his vehicle to us, and M. Kinnaird and T. Young for logistical support in the field. We thank F. Bercovitch, T. Jung, and two anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript with their constructive comments and suggestions. Funding was provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Grant no. 8386) to L. R. B., JSPS KEKENHI (Grant no. 23405016) to A. M. O., and the National Science Foundation (Grant nos. BCS 99?03949 and BCS 1266389), the L. S. B. Leakey Foundation, and the Committee on Research, University of California, Davis, to L. A. I.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keywords
- adverse effects of collars
- biotelemetry
- Global Positioning Systems
- positive outcomes
- primates
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
