Scientists as shields Samango monkeys in a South African forest spend more time feeding near the ground when human observers are present. Field researchers may serve as protection from predators such as leopards, according to a study published July 10 in Behavioral Ecology.
Scientists placed buckets of peanuts on the ground and at four different heights in trees, and measured how much the monkeys—which were already accustomed to human observers—ate in the presence or absence of people.
When people weren’t watching, the monkeys demonstrated a “vertical axis of fear”—they foraged more at greater heights, presumably in an effort to avoid predation. But the presence of researchers skewed this axis, causing the monkeys to forage more evenly among the different heights.
Human observation had little effect on the animals’ feeding at higher levels, probably because humans do not lessen the threat of eagles and other canopy predators. The authors noted that their results are an important reminder that the behavior of “habituated” animals may be markedly impacted by the presence of humans.
“If observer presence can alter the way in which animals forage and use space, this has obvious implications for observer-led studies of vigilance, trade-offs and predator-prey interactions,” study leader Katarzyna Nowak, a junior fellow at Durham University, told Mongabay.
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/40939/title/Behavior-Brief/
Agelbert NOTE: Once again Homo SAP Scientists continue to be "surprised" by the "adaptive behavior" (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS INTELLIGENCE ) of other life forms.