23 Kas 2024 Cumartesi
Seasonal availability and nutrient contents of mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona Schreber, 1774) plant diets in Lekki Conservation Centre, Nigeria
Abstract :The
mona monkey is the only non-human primate in Lekki Conservation Centre, a
privately owned Strict Nature Reserve located in a peri-urban part of Lagos,
Nigeria. The reserve is becoming a forest island due to rapid urbanization
around it. This study determined the seasonal availability of the plant foods
utilized by the monkey during the dry and rainy seasons of 2011 and 2012. The
nutrients and fibre fractions contents of the plant foods utilized in 2011 were
determined using standard procedures. The plant parts consumed by the monkeys
were determined by observing the feeding behavior of several troops for a total
period of 33 days, and opportunistic collection of discarded portions. The
nutrients determined were crude protein (CP), ether extracts (EE), crude fibre
(CF), ash, and nitrogen free extracts (NFE) while the fibre fractions were
neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), acid detergent
lignin (ADL), hemicellulose (HC), and cellulose (CS). The monkeys utilized
different parts of 17 plant species from 11 Families. Based on the parts of plants accessed as
food, fruits constituted 59 %. This was followed by nuts and seeds, 9 % each.
During the dry season, Mangifera indica
(whole tender fruits) had the highest CP value of 22.31 %. The highest NDF was
found in the fruits of Anthocleista
vogelii. In the rainy season, the highest CP and NDF values of 6.56 % and
66.40 % were respectively found in the seed of Mussaenda polita. Using CP as basis of the diets in the reserve to
meet the monkeys’ need, 11.52 ± 0.95 found in fruits (n =6) more than meets the
recommended value of 6.4 – 8.0 % by the National Research Council
Mona
monkey, food seasonality, nutrient content, fibre fraction content