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Primate Biology and Conservation
Biogeography

Intro
Biogeography is the distribution of biodiversity in space and time, it is where organisms live and at
what abundance
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Range size and geographical location
Ranges are smaller near the equator so there is more species diversity and density
Biogeographical barriers
These impede on the range size of species and include
- Rivers
- Mountains
- Oceans
Dispersal
It is difficult to study the distance an individual can travel, though we can use tracking devices, we
can also use genetics to look at dispersal
Link to conservation
We can use biogeography to look at which species need conservation and which wil need it in the
future
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benefits
drawbacks
Mobbing predators
Conspicuousness
Cooperation for resource defence
Competition for food and mates
Increased foraging through shared information
Increased disease transmission
Social learning
Care of young
Quality and availability of mates
Social bonds
Social bonds can be useful to :
- Regulate competition and aggression
- Establish cooperation
- Ensure offspring survival
- Ensure access to resources
- Improve health (decrease stress
There are many types of social bond:
- Pair bond (mates
- Mother-offspring bond
- “Friends” – kin, non-kin, same sex, opposite sex
- “Enemies” – are these real or are they just human concepts?
Social bonds can be difficult to measure in those without language
Social grooming
Social grooming has many functions not just hygiene

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Releases endorphins that reduces stress
Can be used in exchange for favours such as sex, infant handling and cooperation
o New mothers get groomed more and the number of infants correlates with the
length of the grooming
o More grooming = support in fights
Grooming is often related to kinship and hierarchies
o Primates groom kin more often than non-kin
o Highest ranking individual receives the most grooming and grooming usually occurs
between rank neighbours

Tourism

Intro
Primate tourist: a person who travels to see wild primates in their natural habitat
Generally primate tourism is a form of ecotourism; it has minimal impacts to the natural areas
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THIS IS NOT ECOTOURISM – They are not wild and are
manipulated so there is an impact
Orang-utans – Some tourists think the wild orangs are more important and so trek to see them but
others think the orphans are more important – the businesses based on the orphans could benefit
the poachers and vice versa
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Conservation Genetics

Intro
Conservation genetics looks at the genetic factors that affect extinction risk and the genetic
management regimes needed to minimise those risks
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4-1
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The founders of the Asiatic ion breeding
programme had some African lion DNA
Species biology

We can determine things such as mating systems and migration patterns by using genetics
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Small populations
Large populations are vital for maintaining genetic diversity
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Wildlife forensics
We can also use genetics to track the origins of illegal items such as rhino horns and ivory

Stress

Intro
Stress can impact negatively on:
- population growth – miss ovulation, absorption, miscarriage
- immunocompetence – ability to fight disease
Stress can be important for assessing welfare in captivity – non invasive techniques are useful as
handling can increase stress
Habitat disturbance
We can compare data on stress from pristine habitats and those affected by fragmentation by
looking at fecal cortisol levels
- black howler monkeys = more stress in fragmented areas
Tourist effects
Tibetan macaques – in the 6 years before they were moved to a tourist site infant mortality was 0
for 5 of those years
- infant mortality increased as tourism started and peaked when the range was restricted
- adult aggression increased with infant mortality (correlation? Or causation?)
Barbary Macaques
- rate of self scratching correlated to the mean number of tourists and to all three types of
human behaviour studied (neutral, feeding, aggressive)
- fecal cortisol levels were positively related to aggressive interactions

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