The Night-Resting Habits of Monkeys in a Small Area on the Edge of the Semliki Forest, Uganda. A Study in Relation to the Epidemiology of Sylvan Yellow Fever

Abstract

Eight species of monkeys occurred in the area. Occupation of a single tree for night-resting by more than one sp. in the same night was unusual, but several spp. used any given tree on different nights. Night resting bands are fragments of the diurnal bands. Population changes occurred in the area, probably due to migrations, though these may be only over short distances. Observations on the diurnal activity rhythm of captive monkeys showed Colobus abyssinicus ituricus, Cercocebus albigena johnstoni and Papio doguera tessellatus settled in that order in the evening and Colobus ituricus tended to remain later in the morning than the other two spp. The parts of the trees used for resting by the main spp. of monkeys, the sizes of the night resting bands, the movements of an individual band, and the preference for trees of different spp. and different topographic sites are discussed.