Vehicle Collisions Among Four Species of Monkeys Between 2000 and 2018 on a Suburban Road in Diani, Kenya
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Vehicle Collisions Among Four Species of Monkeys Between 2000 and 2018 on a Suburban Road in Diani, Kenya Pamela M. K. Cunneyworth 1
& Joshua
Duke 2
Received: 9 June 2019 / Accepted: 28 January 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The impacts of road infrastructure on wildlife are of mounting concern. Amidst a growing body of literature on vehicle–wildlife collisions, few studies focus on primates. We examined a long-term dataset (2000–2018) of community-reported welfare cases for four species of monkeys: colobus (Colobus angolensis palliatus), Sykes’s monkey (Cercopithecus mitis albogularis), vervet (Chlorocebus pygerythrus hilgerti), and baboon (Papio cynocephalus cynocephalus). We analyzed collision rates using annual census data along a 10-km road section through the suburban town of Diani, Kenya. Vehicle– monkey collisions represented 705 of 1896 cases (37%), which was the most common anthropogenic cause of injury and death. The mean number of monthly vehicle–monkey collisions was 3 (range 0–10), and 83% of collisions led to death of the monkey. We found 1) higher degrees of terrestrialism were associated with lower number of collision cases; 2) no differences in the collision rates between juveniles, subadults, and adults across species, but collisions involving infants occurred at lower rates; 3) similar collision rates for female and male colobus and baboons, whereas Sykes’s monkey females and vervet males were more frequently involved in collisions than the other sex; 4) no correlation between the number of hotel bed-nights (a measure of tourist numbers) and vehicle collisions; and 5) drier days correlated with increased rates of vehicle–monkey collisions across all species. This study highlights the risks of roads for monkeys, and that collision rates vary with species, age class, and, in some species, sex and that rainfall is one factor that affects these rates. Keywords Diani . Kenya . Primate . Road-crossing behavior . Road mortality . Wildlife–
vehicle collision
Handling Editor: Joanna M. Setchell Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-02000135-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Cunneyworth P.M.K., Duke J.
Introduction The ecological impact of roads is considered a major threat to global biodiversity (Forman and Alexander 1998; Polak et al. 2014; Trombulak and Frissell 2000). Studies of the direct impact of vehicle–wildlife collisions suggest that roads are a leading cause of vertebrate fatalities (Forman and Alexander 1998; Glista et al. 2009). Speciesspecific rates of vehicle–wildlife collisions reflect differences in the species’ response to roads, including variation in attraction to roads and vehicle avoidance behavior. Collision rates are also affected by vehicle volume and speed (Barrientos and Bolonio 2009; Ramp et al. 2005; Seiler 2005), population density (Mysterud 2004), season (Dodd et al. 2005), degree of terrestrialism (Caceres 201
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