Diurnal activity budget and ranging behavior of Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta) in daunne forest, Nawalpur, Nepal

Abstract

Rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta, order: Primates, suborder: Haplorhini, family: Cercopithecidae) is a species of Old-World monkeys native to forests but also found coexisting with humans. Macaca mulatta shows a great deal of adaptability. An understanding of how animals allocate their time between different activities throughout the day give information about how they interact with their surroundings and how they have adapted to ensure their survival and reproduction. Information on primate’s daily activity budget and ranging behavior helps to design conservation plan more effectively by allowing us to better understand their ecological necessities and behavioral responses to environmental changes. This study determined the daily activity budget and ranging behavior of Rhesus macaque in Daunne Forest, Nepal. The data were collected from October 27, 2021 to May 10, 2022 for 29 days observing the behavior for 227 hours in three phases of the day (morning, 7.00–11.00 am; afternoon, 11.00–2.00 pm; and late afternoon, 2.00–6.00 pm). Behavioral data were recorded by the focal animal sampling method and ranging behavior were recorded using instantaneous scan sampling method with the aid of a GPS. Rhesus macaques of Daunne Forest spent majority of the time in resting (33.83%), followed by moving (26.67%), feeding (22.92%), and grooming (15.42%). Time invested by rhesus macaques in resting, feeding and moving differed significantly among the different observational phases of the day. Males spent major proportion of their time on resting (36.97%) and moving (28.57%), whereas females spent major proportion of their time on resting (29.04%) and feeding (24.72%). The daily path length ranged between 540.1–2905.4 m, with a mean distance of 1590 ± 576.96 m which did not differ significantly among the autumn, winter and spring seasons. Findings of this research will be useful in proper management and conservation of temple primates.