Eight-year study of social and ecological correlates of mortality among immature baboons of Mikumi National Park, Tanzania.

Abstract

The Cox Proportional Hazards Regression Model was used to examine ecological and sociodemographic correlates of mortality among 164 immature yellow baboons born over an 8-year period at Mikumi National Park, Tanzania. Ecological correlates were derived from seasonal rainfall. Mortality was lowest for immatures born during the late rainy season, when it was likely that nourishment for pregnant and lactating females was greatest. High mortality was associated with above-average rainfall early in the immature's first complete rainy season. This association may result from one or more of the following: exposure, increased ranging, or accelerated vegetation growth, each of which is thought to increase hazards for weanlings. When births for the 8 years of the study were pooled, a birth peak occurred during the early dry season. The larger number of births during a birth peak should intensify competition among mothers and among immatures. Mortality was greatest for immature females born during the season immediately following the birth peak, while lowest for immature females born during the season immediately preceding the peak. Immature female mortality was greatest when the troop size at birth was large, and was most severe for females born to low ranking mothers. The sociodemographic results are consistent with Wasser's hypothesis that cooperative attacks of female baboons upon other troop females suppress the others' reproduction and the vitality of their infants, thereby improving the relative competitive position of the attackers' own young.