Food choices and habitat use by the Tana River yellow baboons ( Papio cynocephalus ): a preliminary report on five years of data

The Tana River Primate National Reserve, Kenya (TRPNR) yellow baboons' ( Papio cynocephalus ) long‐term habitat usage and food preferences are relatively under‐reported. The author presents a preliminary food catalog and analyses of 5 years of data (January 88–October 92; n =55 mo; 875 observation days; 4,893 hourly scans) for the Mchelelo troop ( x̄ =75 individuals). The author predicted that the TRPNR baboons would spend more time on the much larger savanna, show a seasonal preference for fruits/seeds, and show rainfall‐influenced food preferences. Although more time was spent on the proportionately larger savanna than in the forests, more than 42% of the observations occurred in forests that accounted for only 8.7% of the area regularly used by the baboons. Fruits/seeds consumption was high throughout the period and a significantly higher proportion of each month's observations reflected fruits/seeds rather than grasses/herbs/corms consumption. Two forest species' ( Phoenix reclinata and Hyphaene compressa ) were particularly important. Regression analysis showed fruits/seeds consumption predicted most of the grasses/herbs/corms consumption variance. There was no statistical difference in rainy vs. non‐rainy season fruits/seeds or grasses/herbs/corms consumption. One implication of these data is the baboons' potential impact on the critically endangered Tana River mangabeys ( Cercocebus galeritus ), which also rely heavily on P. reclinata and H. compressa . Another is what the “savanna” designation may or may not tell us about baboons. Am. J. Primatol. 71:432–436, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.