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Fluctuations of population density in Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) related to fruit availability in the Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia: a 10-year record including two mast fruitings and three other peak fruitings

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  • Research and Conservation of Orangutans (Pongo sp.) in Malaysia
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Abstract

We investigated the population density of Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) and fruit availability for 10 years (2005–2014), in primary lowland dipterocarp forests in the Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia. During the research period, two mast fruitings and three other peak fruiting events of different scales occurred in the study area. The orangutan population density, estimated every 2 months by the marked nest count method, changed between 0.3 and 4.4 ind/km2 and the mean population density was 1.3 ind/km2 ± SE 0.1 (n = 56). The population density increased markedly during mast and peak fruiting periods. A significant positive correlation was observed between the population density and fruit availability in the study period (Spearman, R = 0.3, P < 0.01, n = 56). During non-fruiting periods, however, no significant correlation was observed between them. These results suggest that the spatial difference in fruit availability during mast and peak fruiting periods was larger than during non-fruiting periods, and many orangutans temporarily moved to the study site from the surrounding areas seeking fruit.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Economic Planning Unit of the Malaysia Federal Government, the Sabah Biodiversity Centre, the Danum Valley Management Committee (DVMC), Sabah University, and the Sabah Wildlife Department for permitting this study in Sabah. Special thanks go to Dr. Waidi Sinun of DVMC, Mr. George Hong of Borneo Nature Tours, and Mr. Jikos Gidimanand, and Dr. Glen Reynolds of DVFC for their kind support. We also thank Dr. Yap Sau Wai, Dr. Seiw Te Wong, and Dr. Goro Hanya for providing unpublished phenology data from the DVFC. We give special thanks to our research assistants for their support during a long period in the field and all of the staff at BRL. We are also grateful to Dr. Tetsuro Matsuzawa of the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University (PRIKU) for his long support. This study was partly financed by the 21st Century COE Program (R12 and A10) of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the JSPS Core-to-Core Program HOPE of PRIKU, the Global Environment Research Fund (GRASP), Grants-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (Nos. 634 and 40012) to Dr. Noko Kuze of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists (Nos. 20770195 and 22687002), a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research B (No. 25291100) to Dr. Goro Hanya of PRIKU, a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research A (No. 25257407) to Dr. Takakazu Yumoto of PRIKU, the JSPS Core-to-Core Program, A. Advanced Research Networks “International Network for Tropical Biodiversity Conservation focusing on the Studies on Large Animals” of the Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University, and the JSPS Leading Graduate Program “Primatology and Wildlife Science” of Kyoto University, Fujiwara Natural History Foundation, the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA), and Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

    Tomoko Kanamori

  2. Department of Anthropology, The National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan

    Noko Kuze

  3. Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

    Henry Bernard

  4. Sabah Wildlife Department, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

    Titol Peter Malim

  5. Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Shiro Kohshima

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  1. Tomoko Kanamori
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Correspondence to Tomoko Kanamori.

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Kanamori, T., Kuze, N., Bernard, H. et al. Fluctuations of population density in Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) related to fruit availability in the Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia: a 10-year record including two mast fruitings and three other peak fruitings. Primates 58, 225–235 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-016-0584-5

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