Strategic responses of male samango monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) to a decline in the number of receptive females

Abstract

Observations on a habituated troop of samango monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis)revealed that lone males did not achieve significant mating opportunities during a breeding season in which few females were sexually receptive. This stood in contrast to the previous year and was associated with the maintenance of shorter resident male-female distances, confirming suggestions that the reproductive benefits of residency are associated primarily with low numbers of simultaneously receptive females. At the same time, lone males made no attempt to challenge the resident male physically in order to gain access to females. Given the presence of a stable bachelor group and the absence of other, transient, males, these data are used to argue for male mating strategies that are sensitive to regional and temporal variability in the availability of receptive females.