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193040

Population Size, Group Composition and Feeding Ecology of the Endemic and Endangered Colobus guereza gallarum in Harenna Forest, Harenna Buluk District, South East Ethiopia

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Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Population size, group composition and feeding ecology of the endemic and endangered Black-and-White Colobus Monkey (Colobus guereza gallarum) was investigated in Harenna Forest, South East Ethiopia by using the line-transect method in 10 selected blocks. During the dry and wet seasons, a mean number of 212 and 246 C. g. gallarum individuals was recorded, respectively. Also, the number of groups of the animal was higher in wet (36) than dry (31) season, but statistically insignificant (P= 0.447). Out of the recorded C. g. gallarum, 25.98% were adult males; 32.53% adult females; 14.85% sub-adult male, 11.14% sub-adult female and 15.50% were juveniles/young. Young leaves were the largest (35.1%) contributor to the diet of guereza followed by shoots (22.1%) in both seasons. Other common items were included mature leaves (20.6 %), bark (17.7%), fruit (2.8%) and flower (1.7%).  C. g. gallarum were observed feeding on 19 plant species belonging to 12 families. The highest contribution of the diet was from the family Rosaceae (41.67%), while family Fabaceae, Moraceae and Myrsinaceae were contributing 50% of the diet. Schefflera volkensii was the most consumed plant species which accounted for 7.96%,  followed by Urera hypselodendron (7.83%)  and  Dombeya torrida (7.06%). Moreover, C.g.gallarum mainly forage on leaves particularly young leaves, and their foraging activities depend inside the forest. Thus, to maintain sustainable conservation of the endemic C.g.gallarum in the area, their habitats should be properly protected, and appropriate monitoring strategies should be designed.

DOI

10.21608/eajbsz.2021.193040

Keywords

Colobus guereza gallarum, diet, Harenna Forest, population size

Authors

First Name

Sefi

Last Name

Mekonen

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Science, Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia

Email

mekonen.sefi@gmail.com

City

Addis Ababa

Orcid

-

First Name

Mastewal

Last Name

Hailemariam

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Science, Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia

Email

mastewalhmariam@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

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Volume

13

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

26137

Issue Date

2021-12-01

Receive Date

2021-07-30

Publish Date

2021-12-01

Page Start

65

Page End

75

Print ISSN

2090-0759

Online ISSN

2090-0821

Link

https://eajbsz.journals.ekb.eg/article_193040.html

Detail API

https://eajbsz.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=193040

Order

6

Type

Original Article

Type Code

672

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, B. Zoology

Publication Link

https://eajbsz.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Population Size, Group Composition and Feeding Ecology of the Endemic and Endangered Colobus guereza gallarum in Harenna Forest, Harenna Buluk District, South East Ethiopia

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Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023