IAP-25-058

Understanding the diverse impacts of human activity on primate behaviour and physiology

Human population growth is rapidly converting natural ecosystems into human-modified landscapes worldwide and many animal species now live in close proximity to humans. Although some species can benefit and even thrive in human-modified habitats, for many the proximity to humans leads to negative interactions due to competition over food, space and other resources. As human-wildlife ‘conflicts’ increase across the globe it is increasingly important to understand how animals adapt to human-modified landscapes and the impacts this may have on their reproduction and survival. This is particularly important for some primate species that regularly forage on cultivated crops and conflict with humans occurs.

While human-wildlife interactions are often framed in terms of ‘conflict’, some contexts are less conflictual, and some species, such as highly adaptable primates, can become habituated to close human contact. Nevertheless, recent research suggests that even when animals have habituated to human presence, individual differences in tolerance of humans exist. For primate species such as chacma baboons (Papio ursinus), populations can exist along a spectrum from regular negative interactions – conflict – to more benign contexts including habituation, with individuals varying in the degree to which they are impacted by human presence. How these different forms of interaction influence their behaviour and physiology is not well understood, though various studies have been conducted on different groups in different contexts.

Chacma baboons have been the focus of long-term study within the Soutpansberg Mountains, Limpopo Province, South Africa with a study group habituated in 2005. Research has explored a diversity of behavioural [3,4,5] and physiological [7,8] responses of the baboons to the natural environment, as well as highlighting individual differences in tolerance to humans [1,2]. Systematic behaviour observations ceased in 2019, although recent pilot work has highlighted that the group continues to range in the same area. Nevertheless, as well as individuals that were subject to long-term observation, the group now includes a subset of animals which have been born or immigrated into the group since 2019, who do not have experience of human observers. Furthermore, a significant land use change on a property within the home range of the baboons, with the development of a macadamia farm, means that these baboons now crop forage). There is thus a unique opportunity to explore how habituation to humans and human-wildlife ‘conflict’ interact, providing a more nuanced study of the impacts of interactions with humans on behaviour and physiology. Comparison with other previous studies of baboons using similar behavioural and physiological measures where animals forage from subsistence crops or a human rubbish dump8 may provide further calibration of findings6.

Research questions: 1) how do individual differences in habituation and tolerance to humans influence the behaviour and physiology of chacma baboons? 2) how does access to macadamia crops change the behaviour and physiology of baboons? 3) how does individual variation in human tolerance interact with crop foraging behaviour and negative interactions with humans in shaping behavioural and physiological profiles?

The project will involve re-establishing fieldwork on chacma baboons at the Lajuma Research Centre, Limpopo Province, South Africa, as part of the long-term Primate & Predator Project. Fieldwork will collect: behavioural data on the former long-term habituated group of chacma baboons; ecological data on habitat usage, both natural and cultivated; and faecal sample collection for non-invasive hormone analysis which the student will carry out in the Behavioural Ecology & Physiology (BEP) Laboratory, Anthropology Dept., Durham University.

Behavioural and ecological data
Systematic behavioural sampling will be used to record behaviour, diet, anthropogenic resource and space use. Ad hoc sampling will measure the nature and frequency of interactions with humans, and the frequencies of affiliative and agonistic interactions for determining dominance hierarchies and undertaking social networks analysis. Phenological data collection will be used to estimate natural and anthropogenic food availability.

Physiological data
Energetic physiological responses to ecological factors, including food intake and human interaction and persecution will be assessed through variation in stress and metabolic hormone levels. Validated EIAs (enzyme immunoassay) will be used to analyse physiological stress levels and resilience (glucocorticoids), and metabolic rate and energy balance (thyroid hormone) from faecal samples.

Analysis
Mixed models will be used to analyse and compare the combined behavioural, ecological and physiological factors affecting activity budgets, energy balance and physiological stress responses and resilience to explore the behavioural and physiological impact of human interactions.

Year 1

Months 1-3 Initial PhD training, literature review, outline project design, ethical approval
Months 4-6 Pilot fieldwork in South Africa
Months 7-9 Finalisation of project plan, laboratory training
Months 10-12 Start fieldwork

Year 2

Months 1-12 Observational and ecological data collection, plus faecal sample collection in South Africa; Presentation at SAWMA conference

Year 3

Month 1 Finalise fieldwork data collection in South Africa
Months 2-7 Laboratory sample preparation and hormone assays in BEP Lab plus initial data analysis.
Months 8-12 Detailed data analysis. Presentation at national conference. Start writing up thesis in format suitable for conversion to submission of manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals

Year 3.5

Months 1-6 Finalise writing of thesis and submission of first manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals.

The project offers the student the opportunity to develop their interests and skills in behavioural ecology and ecological physiology. Training and experience will be gained in international fieldwork, behavioural observation, ecological data collection, non-invasive hormone analysis, and statistical analysis (statistical training is available through Durham-based and IAPETUS courses). Skills development will include project, information and time management, written, oral and presentation communication skills