When Northern Pigtailed Macaques (Macaca leonina) Cannot Select for Ideal Sleeping Sites in a Degraded Habitat

Abstract

Primates must select sleeping sites carefully to maximize fitness. In habitats with diminished quality and availability of resources, sleeping site selection becomes an even more crucial aspect of primate survival. We investigated sleeping site selection patterns in northern pigtailed macaques (Macaca leonina) living in a degraded habitat by testing the hypotheses of random selection, predation avoidance, and food proximity. We followed a group of northern pigtailed macaques in Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, northeastern Thailand, over 14 months between February 2017 and October 2018. We identified 107 total sleeping sites and analyzed the forest structure at 50 sleeping sites and 50 randomly selected available sites. While the rate of reuse was low and random (N = 15), with sleeping sites characterized by a low availability of large and tall trees, the selection pattern was not random, with sleeping sites occurring more often in familiar areas (i.e., high site fidelity), and those with a greater number of stems and a higher canopy. These sleeping site characteristics were likely selected to decrease detection by predators and facilitate macaque escape in case of attack, supporting the predator avoidance hypothesis. However, food proximity also played a key role in sleeping site selection in this degraded habitat. Macaques often slept within, or close to, their first/last feeding site and selected their sleeping sites following food distribution, presumably to maximize energy intake. Our results present a new impact of habitat degradation on sleeping site selection in large primate groups: the use of a high number sleeping sites in order to cope with low availability and scattered distribution of fruit resources.