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Physiological and Behavioral Effects of Capture Darting on Red Colobus Monkeys (Procolobus rufomitratus) with a Comparison to Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Predation

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Abstract

Understanding how human activities affect wild primates is critical to the design of effective conservation strategies. Despite this need, few studies have examined the physiological and behavioral effects of field research methods in the wild. Here, we examine how the stress response, i.e., fecal cortisol, and behavior of Ugandan red colobus monkeys (Procolobus rufomitratus) in Kibale National Park are affected by chemical immobilization and collaring, i.e., capture. We compare this anthropogenic stressor to a naturally occurring stressor: a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) predation attack. Two adult males had peak cortisol levels of 283 and 284 ng/g 2–3 d after capture, which were 190% and 182% above their baseline levels, i.e., the first sample taken immediately after capture, but these peak levels did not remain elevated. Using long-term data, i.e., 11 mo of data, we found no difference in fecal cortisol levels between 10 darted and collared individuals and 14 individuals living in the same social group that were not darted or collared. For the chimpanzee attack, peak fecal cortisol levels (147–211% above baseline) were recorded 1–4 d after the attack, but these levels also did not remain elevated for long. These data show that darting and collaring and a chimpanzee predation attempt caused an acute stress response, but neither leads to sustained elevated cortisol levels. Thus, in situations in which research contributes significantly to the conservation of primates and cannot be conducted noninvasively, capture darting appears to be a useful technique with minimal long-term effects as long as injury and mortality are avoided. However, we encourage researchers to make similar physiological and behavioral comparisons in other field studies using similar techniques to provide a better understanding of the effects of research practices on the stress physiology and social behavior of wild primates.

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Acknowledgments

This publication was made possible in part by grant no. P51 RR000167 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison. This research was conducted in part at a facility constructed with support from Research Facilities Improvement Program grant nos. RR15459-01 and RR020141-01 and in part by NIH grant TW009237 as part of the joint NIH–NSF Ecology of Infectious Disease program and the UK Economic and Social Research Council. This publication's contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NCRR or NIH. M. Wasserman received funding from the National Science Foundation (DDIG no. 0823651 and Graduate Research Fellowship Program); the International Primatological Society; the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; UCB Center for African Studies; the UCB Chang-Lin Tien Scholars Program (funded by the Philomathia Foundation); and McGill University’s Tomlinson Postdoctoral Fellowship to support this research. We thank everyone who provided assistance with this research, including P. Omeja, D. Twinomugisha, C. Baguma, H. Musunguzi, R. Mutegeki, S. Katusabe, C. Kaganzi, A. Ritchie, and D. Wittwer. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers and Joanna Setchell for their very helpful comments.

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Correspondence to Michael D. Wasserman.

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Wasserman, M.D., Chapman, C.A., Milton, K. et al. Physiological and Behavioral Effects of Capture Darting on Red Colobus Monkeys (Procolobus rufomitratus) with a Comparison to Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Predation. Int J Primatol 34, 1020–1031 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-013-9711-y

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