"Our study found that Cercopithecus monkeys opportunistically preyed on bats not only in Gombe, but also in the Kakamega Forest in Kenya," said Kate Detwiler, Ph.D., co-author of the study and an assistant professor in FAU's Department of Anthropology. "The behavior that we observed and the persistence of these monkeys to capture their prey indicate that bats are desirable items in their food repertoire."
During the course of the study, the researchers observed the Cercopithecus monkeys both handling and eating bats and sometimes had prolonged contact with the bat carcass. The monkeys spent between 10 minutes to just a little over an hour consuming a single bat, and in one case consuming the bones as well.
"In two of the events at the Kakamega Forest in Kenya, a monkey snatched a bat from its day-roosting tree before eating it," said Elizabeth Tapanes, first author of the study and a recent graduate of the master's in arts program in the Department of Anthropology at FAU. "Roosting bats were likely easy prey that could be reached while torpid or asleep."
All cases of monkeys hunting or feeding on bats occurred in or near human-modified or forest-edge habitats. Both the Gombe and the Kakamega ecosystems have experienced forest fragmentation and loss over recent decades. These habitat changes have led to more primates using forest edges and adjacent-modified habitats like the plantation forests where the predation events in the study occurred.
"While effects of habitat change on bats are unknown and merit further study, our observations suggest that Cercopithecus monkeys preying on bats may be habitat specific, and possibly affected by anthropogenic habitat changes," said Tapanes.
