TY - JOUR
T1 - Interactions Between Humans and Panamanian White-Faced Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus imitator)
AU - Mansell, Naomi L.
AU - Mckinney, Tracie
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank the Schutt family and the staff of Cur? Wildlife Refuge. The 2019 study presented here was supported by a grant from Primate Conservation, Inc. The 2006?2007 study was supported by Earthwatch Insitute, Primate Conservation, Inc., and the Ohio State University. We also thank Joanna Setchell and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful notes on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
The authors thank the Schutt family and the staff of Curú Wildlife Refuge. The 2019 study presented here was supported by a grant from Primate Conservation, Inc. The 2006–2007 study was supported by Earthwatch Insitute, Primate Conservation, Inc., and the Ohio State University. We also thank Joanna Setchell and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful notes on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Anthropogenic influence is expanding, threatening primate taxa worldwide. With wildlife tourism a burgeoning industry, understanding human–primate interactions is key in avoiding primate defaunation. We observed interactions between humans and a group of wild Panamanian white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) at Curú Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, in June and July, 2019, and compared our findings with findings for the same group in May–October of 2006 and 2007, when the group received more provisioning. We recorded all occurrences of human–primate interactions in 323 15-min samples over 42 consecutive days. We found that capuchins initiated approximately twice as many interactions as humans did (a significant difference). We also found a strong positive correlation between engaging behaviors exhibited by humans and capuchin agonistic behaviors. Capuchins spent significantly more time engaging in moderate behaviors (snatch food, snatch item, vigilance, vocalization) and less time not interacting with humans, in the presence of tourists and staff, than in the presence of staff only. Time spent in moderate and intense behaviors (approach, beg, chase, offer, take food, threat) was lower in 2019 than in 2006 and 2007. These findings suggest that reducing engaging behaviors by humans may reduce primate agonistic behaviors, and that human group composition affects human–primate interactions. The reduction in moderate and intense behaviors between studies also suggests that reducing direct provisioning could reduce the frequency and intensity of human–primate interactions in tourist sites.
AB - Anthropogenic influence is expanding, threatening primate taxa worldwide. With wildlife tourism a burgeoning industry, understanding human–primate interactions is key in avoiding primate defaunation. We observed interactions between humans and a group of wild Panamanian white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) at Curú Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, in June and July, 2019, and compared our findings with findings for the same group in May–October of 2006 and 2007, when the group received more provisioning. We recorded all occurrences of human–primate interactions in 323 15-min samples over 42 consecutive days. We found that capuchins initiated approximately twice as many interactions as humans did (a significant difference). We also found a strong positive correlation between engaging behaviors exhibited by humans and capuchin agonistic behaviors. Capuchins spent significantly more time engaging in moderate behaviors (snatch food, snatch item, vigilance, vocalization) and less time not interacting with humans, in the presence of tourists and staff, than in the presence of staff only. Time spent in moderate and intense behaviors (approach, beg, chase, offer, take food, threat) was lower in 2019 than in 2006 and 2007. These findings suggest that reducing engaging behaviors by humans may reduce primate agonistic behaviors, and that human group composition affects human–primate interactions. The reduction in moderate and intense behaviors between studies also suggests that reducing direct provisioning could reduce the frequency and intensity of human–primate interactions in tourist sites.
KW - Ecotourism
KW - ethnoprimatology
KW - Human-animal interaction
KW - Provisioning
KW - Wildlife tourism
U2 - 10.1007/s10764-021-00218-2
DO - 10.1007/s10764-021-00218-2
M3 - Article
VL - 42
SP - 548
EP - 562
JO - International Journal of Primatology
JF - International Journal of Primatology
SN - 0164-0291
IS - 4
ER -
