First report of a leopard (Panthera pardus)\u2013bonobo (Pan paniscus) encounter at the LuiKotale study site, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Nicolas Corredor-Ospina,Giulia Rossi,Gottfried Hohmann,Melodie Kreyer,Barbara Fruth

doi:10.1007/s10329-021-00897-8

Abstract

Predation is a major cause of mortality in non-human primates, and considered a selective force in the evolution of primate societies. Although larger body size is considered as protection against predation, evidence for predation on great apes by carnivores comes from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), and orangutans (Pongo spp.). Here, we describe the first encounter between wild bonobos (Pan paniscus) and a leopard (Panthera pardus). A single leopard was confronted by a group of habituated bonobos for three hours. Two adult males and one adolescent female bonobo actively harassed the leopard, which remained still for most of the encounter and reacted only to close approaches by bonobos. While no predation was observed, their behaviours confirm that bonobos perceive leopards as potential predators. Our report adds novel information to descriptions from other African ape species, and sheds light on the behavioural repertoire of bonobos’ anti-predation strategies. For future investigations, we suggest tagging leopards to remotely monitor their movements and allow assessment of encounter rates as one of several factors influencing predation pressure.

Highlights

Predation is widely considered a major selective force in the evolution of primate social systems and sociality (Cheney and Wrangham 1987)
Encounters between chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and leopards (Panthera pardus) have been observed at various field sites from West (Zuberbühler and Jenny 2002) to East Africa (Nishie 2018; Pierce 2009), and in some populations leopard predation was considered responsible for almost 40% of adult mortality cases (Boesch 1991)
In Taï (Côte d’Ivoire), chimpanzees have been shown to respond to predation pressure by decreasing party sizes while increasing the sex ratio of parties to include more males, overall party size was larger than in East African chimpanzee sites with lower predation pressure (Boesch 1991)

Summary

Introduction

Predation is widely considered a major selective force in the evolution of primate social systems (van Schaik and Hörstermann 1994) and sociality (Cheney and Wrangham 1987). Encounters between chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and leopards (Panthera pardus) have been observed at various field sites from West (Zuberbühler and Jenny 2002) to East Africa (Nishie 2018; Pierce 2009), and in some populations leopard predation was considered responsible for almost 40% of adult mortality cases (Boesch 1991). Behavioural studies of wild great apes rely on habituation to observers, human presence reduces encounters with predators and lowers the probability of attacks, leading to underestimates of predation pressure (but see Isbell and Young (1993)).

Results

Conclusion