Research ArticleAbundance Diversity and Distribution of Primates at WelelMountain Kellem Wollega Zone Oromia Region Ethiopia

Diriba Fufa 1 Dereje Yazezew2 Gezahegn Degefe2 and Sibhatu Gebrehiwot 1

1Department of Biology College of Natural and Computational Sciences Raya University PO Box 92 Maichew Ethiopia2Department of Biology College of Natural and Computational Sciences Debre Berhan University PO Box 445Debre Berhan Ethiopia

Correspondence should be addressed to Diriba Fufa diribafufa2gmailcom

Received 26 October 2019 Revised 14 March 2020 Accepted 21 April 2020 Published 11 May 2020

Academic Editor Daiji Endoh

Copyright copy 2020 Diriba Fufa et al )is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited

Primates are the mammals of the order Primate that is characterized by advanced development of binocular vision and en-largement of the cerebral hemispheres )e aim of this study was to investigate the abundance diversity and distribution ofprimates on Welel Mountain From August 2017 to February 2018 we collected data from different parts of Welel Mountainduring wet and dry seasons of the year and analyzed them using SPSS version 20 We identified four primate species Chlorocebusaethiops Cercopithecus mitis Papio anubis and Colobus guereza We conducted t-test analysis for abundance and distribution ofprimates in wet and dry season of the year and the P value obtained was 020 )e mean percentages of primates in forestwoodland and shrubs were 4316 3226 and 2458 respectively Shannon-Wiener diversity index (Hprime) value was higher inwet season than in dry season )e current study showed that the species are distributed more evenly in wet season than in dryseason and the number of young individuals is more than that of adults )is indicates that currently the status of primatespopulation on Welel Mountain is good )erefore to keep the status of primates in the study area effective wildlife managementand conservation policy should be formulated

1 Introduction

Primates are not evenly distributed across the globe as well aswithin the regions and vary greatly from time to time due toseveral factors )us the study of the abundance diversityand spatial distribution of organisms and similarly an un-derstanding of the basic quantitative natural history ofprimate species are critical to their conservation [1] Pri-mates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropicalforests many primate characteristics represent adaptationsto life in the challenging three-dimensional environment [2]

Africa is a continent of particular concern in terms ofglobal primate conservation for many reasons Firstly itharbors a high primate diversitymdashat least 64 species arerecognized 15 prosimians 46 monkeys and 3 apes [3]representing approximately 30 of extant primate speciesAmong fifteen countries worldwide scoring highest forprimate species richness nine are in Africa comprising

Cameroon Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) NigeriaPeoples Republic of Congo Equatorial Guinea and CentralAfrican Republic [4] Secondly historically African forestshave been highly dynamic experiencing several cycles ofexpansion and in many regions forests have persisted infragmented form [5] Large-scale historical processes (egspeciation extinction and dispersal) have been important inshaping the current patterns of primate distribution on thecontinent [6]

Primate habitats span a range of altitudes For examplethe Rhinopithecus bieti has been found living in theHengduan Mountains at altitudes of 4700m [7] the Gorillaberingei beringei can be found at 4200m crossing theVirunga Mountains and the eropithecus gelada has beenfound at elevations of up to 5000m in the EthiopianHighlands)e diversification of species is largely influencedby the conditions at the origin and during the subsequenthistory of the clade [8] the conditions currently associated

Hindawie Scientific World JournalVolume 2020 Article ID 5691324 7 pageshttpsdoiorg10115520205691324

with higher levels of species richness can hint at the mainenvironmental axis determining the distribution and diver-sification of that clade In addition contemporary conditionsand events such as anthropogenic changes in habitat andclimate continue to influence species diversity by removingspecies from some areas and adding them to others [9]

Accounting for 25 to 40 of the fruit-eating animals(by weight) within tropical rain forests primates play animportant ecological role by dispersing seeds of many treespecies [10] Africa is a continent of particular concern interms of global primate conservation for a variety of reasons[11] Among fifteen countries worldwide scoring highest forprimate species richness nine are in Africa [12]

Globally primate populations are being dramaticallyimpacted by activities such as logging deforestationhunting and other such factors As a result wild populationsof most nonhuman primates (NHPs) are decreasing all overthe world and many thousands of primates are killed everyyear for different purposes [13] )e aim of this study wasdetermining diversity abundance and distribution of pri-mates on Welel Mountain and formulating effective andrealistic management policy to control illegal activities

2 Methods

21 StudySite We conducted this study onWelelMountainOromia Region Ethiopia situated 650Km away from AddisAbaba to the west (see Figure 1) )e area is located between8deg 5primendash8deg 8prime N latitude and 34deg 5primendash34deg8prime E longitude )ealtitude of the mountain is 3301 above sea level )e areareceives over 3500mm average annual rainfall [14] )emean minimum and maximum temperature of the studyarea are 4degC and 20degC respectively

Welel Mountain forest contains diverse plant species Itharbors plant from lower level to large trees Some of theplants are Cordia africana Ficus sur Juniperus proceraTeclea nobilis Grevillea robusta Senecio gigas Maesa lan-ceolata Vepris dainellii Croton macrostachys Prunus afri-cana Arundinaria alpine Vernonia myriantha Dombeyatorrid Bersama abyssinica Landolphia buchananii andmany more plants )e following large mammal species areknown to occur in the study area Tragelaphus scriptusCrocuta crocuta Colobus guereza Papio anubis Chlorocebusaethiops Potamochoerus larvatus Panthera pardus Xerusspp Sylvicapra grimmia Orycteropus afer Cercopithecusmitis Leptailurus serval Civettictis civetta Hystrix cristataand others In addition the area contains many birdsamphibians and reptiles

22 Data Collection Methods Firstly the physical envi-ronment of the study area was observed and preliminarysurveys were made with local field assistants and the resi-dents around the area who know the most common placeswhere primates are found )en basic information abouttemperature vegetation and fauna of the study area wasgathered )e data collection was conducted on WelelMountain from August 2017 to February 2018 in wetlanddry season )e wet season study included August 2017 to

November 2017 and the dry season one included December2017 to February 2018

Data collection methods such as interviews direct ob-servations aided by naked eye and binocular (7times 50mm)and camera traps (Canon camera Eos 5d) were used toconduct the current study In the study site counting of thepopulation of primates was carried out using direct ob-servation while moving on foot throughout the whole studysites (three habitat types) which were divided into blocksbefore the counting of population Primates in the area werecounted by dividing the forest into blocks and each blockwas sampled by line transects [15]

)en the counting of primates seen from the transectlines continued and the primate seen in them was recorded[16] )irty transect lines were established with 14 forriverine forest 10 for woodland 6 for shrub habitatsdepending on the area cover of each habitat In riverineforest transect length of 2 km and width of 100m inwoodland transect length of 25 km and width of 100m andin shrub transect length of 15 km and width of 100m wereused Each transect in each habitat type was surveyed onceevery 2 months for six months (August 2017 to February2018) Transects in each habitat were surveyed at the sametime every morning and late afternoon at the time whenmost primates are active and have good visibility [14 17]

)ese activities were done repeatedly during dry and wetseason and the primatersquos census was carried out five days permonth for both wet and dry seasons )en primatersquospopulation was categorized into different age groupsnamely adult subadult and infant (juvenile) body size wasused in age determination Photographs of the primates weretaken by means of digital camera and the position at whichthey were counted was recorded Observation was made bynaked eye and by use of binocular )en the identifiedprimates were counted and grouped as common (if prob-ability of seeing is 100 in every time of field work) un-common (if probability of seeing isgt 50) and rare (ifprobability of seeing islt 50) [18] Shannon-Wiener index(Hprime) which is given in the following formula was used tocompare primatesrsquo diversity and similarity among habitatstypes and seasons respectively [14 19]

Hprime minus 1113944 pi(ln pi) (1)

where Hprime denotes the diversity indices and pi number ofindividuals of speciestotal number of samplesnumber ofspecies or species richness Relative abundance is calculatedby dividing the number of individuals of a species by thetotal number of individuals of all species

Data were collected from different parts of WelelMountain in wet and dry season of the year and continuousfield surveys were conducted during the field work period(covering several sites on Welel Mountain) )e image filesand pictures were taken with digital camera Furthermoreaudio files were recorded using a sound recorder people wereallowed to listen to sound recordings of primate species andopen-ended questions were additionally formulated so thatthe respondents were able to tell us about the species andanything that they thought was useful information

2 )e Scientific World Journal

23 Data Analysis Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS) version 200 (computer software for Windowsevaluation version program) and Microsoft Excel spread-sheets were used to analyze the data collected during thesurvey One-way ANOVA was used to compare the relativeabundance and distribution of primates in each habitat at 5level of significance

3 Results

31 Primate Species Identified in Different Habitats of WelelMountain A total of 4 species of primates namelyChlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis Papio anubis andColobus guereza were observed at Welel Mountain throughdirect and indirect observations Woodland habitatencompassed 66 107 5 and 121 individuals of Colobusguereza Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis andPapio anubis respectively in wet season and 68 115 6 and146 individuals of Colobus guereza Chlorocebus aethiopsCercopithecus mitis and Papio anubis respectively in dryseason Riverine forest contained 86 176 8 and 204 indi-viduals of Colobus guereza Chlorocebus aethiops

Cercopithecus mitis and Papio anubis respectively in dryseason and 82 154 7 and 131 individuals of Colobusguereza Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis andPapio anubis respectively in wet season whereas Shrub landis inhabited by 61 Colobus guereza 92 Chlorocebus aethiopsno Cercopithecus mitis and 97 Papio anubis individualsduring the dry season and 56 Colobus guereza 89 Chlor-ocebus aethiops no Cercopithecus mitis and 88 Papio anubisindividuals in wet season (see Figures 2 and 3)

32 Diversity Indices for Primates at Welel Mountain )esum total of 1965 individual primates were counted andrecorded in both wet and dry seasons )is means on av-erage 983 individuals were identified and recorded in thestudy area From these the total number of primatescounted in wet season is less than that of dry season (seeTable 1) )e result from the interview revealed that there ismigration of primates from the forest to the farmland duringthe wet season )erefore the number of primates countedin wet season is less than that of dry season )e woodlandwas represented by 634 individuals while riverine forest and

N

Welel Mountain

0

34deg40prime0primeprimeE

8deg45prime0primeprimeN

8deg50prime0primeprimeN

8deg55prime0primeprimeN

9deg0prime0primeprimeN

9deg5prime0primeprimeN

9deg10prime0primeprimeN

Map of Kellem Wollega zone

34deg45prime0primeprimeE 34deg50prime0primeprimeE 34deg55prime0primeprimeE 35deg0prime0primeprimeE

5 10 20km

Map of Ethiopia

Mount_welel

Gurati welel and Tomfi-chari

Figure 1 Map of the study area

)e Scientific World Journal 3

shrubs were represented by 848 and 483 individuals re-spectively On average (wet and dry season) 4316 of thetotal primates were counted in the forest 3226 werecounted in woodland and finally 2458 were counted inshrubs Moreover relative abundance and diversity indices(Hprime) of each primate species in wet and dry season for thethree habitat types were also calculated (see Table 1)

Shannon-Wiener (Hprime) value is 114 for wet season and111 for dry season (see Table 1) which means that Shannon-Wiener diversity index (Hprime) value is higher in wet seasonthan in dry season

High value of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime) is scored inforest habitat during dry season this shows that forestharbors high number of individual primates Moreover highvalue of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime) was observed in theforest during the wet season (see Table 2) )is evidencesuggests that primate species are more diversified and evenlydistributed in the forest of Welel Mountain Among thethree habitat types shrubs have the least diversified anddistributed primate species

4 Discussions

On average (in wet and dry season) we counted 43163226 and 2458 of the total primates in the forestwoodland and shrubs habitats respectively )us foresthabitat harbors the highest number of primate speciesDistribution and habitat association of primates are deter-mined in terms of their water and food requirements as wellas suitability of foods According to [20] there is foodpreference among different primate species and not all foodsare suitable for themWater and food or the combinations ofboth are the major factors determining the distribution ofwildlife populations in their natural habitats [21]

However the availability of these resources differs fromseason to season as a result the abundance and distributionof the primates differ from habitat to habitat since theyprefer the area where all the life necessities are fulfilledHowever if the resources are not available enough com-petition will be formed and migration will take place

Similarly our current study revealed that there was mi-gration of primates from forest to farmland during the wetseason )is implies that some primates move to thefarmland in search of food)is result is consistent with [22]who reported that the wild animals are increasing year byyear which is due to competitions for resources between wildanimals and human populations )is process can also causeconflict between primates and human population Habitatdestruction and fragmentation were the main cause ofhuman-primate conflict in Indonesia [23]

)e result of our study showed that the population ofprimates in the area varied from season to season From allthe four primate species that were identified in the studyarea Chlorocebus aethiops and Papio anubis were relativelyabundant during wet and dry season respectively )isindicates that the ability of Chlorocebus aethiops and Papioanubis to exploit different varieties of food enables them tosurvive with large number of populations in the area )isgoes in line with a study conducted by [24] who reportedthat one major reason for the wide spread of such primates istheir feeding types For example dietary specialists andgeneralists may not be distributed equally Similarly a studyconducted in Uganda demonstrated that the species are veryflexible in terms of plant species and parts exploited for food[25 26] Hence differences in diets among primate speciesmay in part account for determining their distributionShannon-Wiener diversity index (Hprime) value is higher in wetseason (114) than in dry season (111) However numbers ofindividuals of primates counted in wet season are less thanthose of dry season Here Shannon-Wiener index value doesnot consider number of individuals only instead it considersboth species evenness and species richness

Relatively more primate population was recorded duringthe dry season than the wet season because the availability offood is more on the farmland than the forest (on themountain) during the wet season and the farmland acrossthe forest becomes attractive and provides a plenty of foodsources for these primates )erefore during the wet seasonthere is migration of primate populations from the forestwoodland or shrubs to the farmland Nevertheless duringthe dry season food becomes scarce in the farmland andthus the primates might temporally migrate back from

ForestWood landShrubs

P anubis C mitis C aethiops C guereza0

90

60

30

120

Num

ber o

f prim

ates

150

180

210

240204

176

11592 86

68 61

146

97

8 6 0

Figure 3 Number of primates at Welel Mountain in dry season

0

30

60

90

120

150

180

ForestWood landShrubs

P anubis C mitis

131121

88

7 50

154

107

8982

6656

C aethiops C guereza

Num

ber o

f ind

ivid

uals

Figure 2 Number of primates at Welel Mountain in wet season

4 )e Scientific World Journal

farmland to forest woodland or shrubs )is result is in linewith a study conducted by [27] who reported that moreprimate population was recorded on farmland during thewet season than the dry season

Our study results show that riverine forest has supportedthe highest number of primate species which is 374 indi-viduals in wet season and 474 individuals in dry seasonfollowed by woodland which comprised 299 individuals inwet season and 335 in dry season and shrub land habitatharbored 233 individuals in wet season and 250 in dryseason From the result of the current study the calculated P

value for distribution of primates with regard to habitats is058 )is value is greater than α (005) and it shows thatalthough there is a difference in number of individualsamong the three habitats there is no significant differencebetween the three habitats based on the abundance ofprimate species Similarly the calculated P value obtainedfrom the comparison of primates in wet and dry season is02 which is greater than 005 )is shows that statisticallythere is no significant difference between the mean numbersof primates in wet and dry season

In addition a high value of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime)was observed in woodland in case of dry season and in forestin case of wet season )e possible reason for this distri-bution and diversity might be the availability of food and

water with regard to seasonal variation )e olive baboons(Papio anubis) were relatively the most abundant species inthe present study area

)is may be due to the ability of Papio anubis to exploitdifferent varieties of food more than other primates in thisstudy )is goes in line with [24] reporting that one majorreason for olive baboonrsquos widespread success is that it isomnivorous )e olive baboon searches as wide area as it canand it eats virtually everything it finds including small animals

Similarly the olive baboon in shrubs goes about findingfood differently from that in the surrounding forest As suchit is able to find nutrition in almost any environment and itis able to adapt with different foraging tactics )e baboonforages on all levels of an environment above and beneaththe ground and in the canopy of forests but most animalsonly look for food at one level an arboreal species such as alemur does not look for food on the ground [28] Olivebaboon appeared to be more concentrated in the riverineforest besides it was also recorded in woodland and in leastnumber in shrub land

)e second most dominant primate species in the studyarea was Chlorocebus aethiops which is widely distributed andoften a common species in different parts of Ethiopia occu-pying a wide variety of habitats ranging from riverine tropicaldeciduous ormontane forest to comparatively openwoodland

Table 2 Species richness diversity indices (Hprime) and relative abundance of total primates in each habitat type during the wet and dry seasons

Wet season Dry season

Habitat Primatespecies

No ofindividuals

Relativeabundance

Shannondiversityindex (Hprime)

Habitat Primatespecies

No ofindividuals

Relativeabundance

Shannondiversity index

(Hprime)

Forest

A 82 022

Forest

A 86 018B 154 041 114 B 176 037 111C 7 002 C 8 002D 131 035 D 204 043

Total 374 Total 474

Woodland

A 46 043

Woodland

A 68 020B 107 038 B 115 034C 5 002 11 C 6 002 112D 121 043 D 146 044

Total 279 Total 335

Shrubs

A 56 024

Shrubs

A 61 024B 89 038 108 B 92 037 108C 0 000 C 0 000D 88 038 D 97 039

Total 233 Total 250A Colobus guereza B Chlorocebus aethiops C Cercopithecus mitis D Papio anubis

Table 1 Species richness relative abundance and diversity indices (Hprime) of each primate species in wet and dry season

Types of primate species at WelelMountain

In wet season In dry seasonNo of

individualsRelative abundance

(pi) Hprime No ofindividuals

Relative abundance(pi) Hprime

C guereza 204 023 034 215 020 032C aethiops 350 039 037 383 036 037P anubis 340 038 037 447 042 036C mitis 12 001 006 14 001 006

114 111

)e Scientific World Journal 5

In many areas this monkey frequents human settlements andfeeds extensively on cultivated plants )e species has beenrecorded near sea level and extends to an altitude of at least3000m [29] In line with [29] in this study the species wasobserved mostly in riverine forest habitat )is association ofChlorocebus aethiops (grivet monkey) with riverine forestmight be due to the availability of fruit tree species

In contrast to other primates colobus monkey was morefrequently seen on the top of trees during the day and nightand usually it cannot feed on agricultural crops )is ad-aptation might prevent the species from human andpredatorrsquos damage In some areas the species survives inrelatively small patches of remnant forest and it is in generaltolerant of the presence of man [29] )is might correlatewith the habit that colobus monkey was more frequentlyseen on the top of tree and it cannot damage and feed onagricultural crops

Lastly blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis boutourlinii)was relatively observed in more number in forest than otherhabitats in the study area According to [30] the boutourliniiblue monkey groups were inhabiting relatively undisturbedand tree-dominated forest at Jibat but venturing out intonearby bush land only occasionally to feed on some fruits)is subspecies was recently listed as vulnerable by IUCNbecause of extensive and uncontrolled destruction of theforests it occupies for both timber and agricultural pro-duction [31] )is may be because their habitat preferencesare more than those of other primates In the case of thepresent study area more count of blue monkey was done inforest than other habitat types According to [32] bluemonkeys are among Africarsquos arboreal primate species andinhabit a variety of forest types (tropical moist forests)Moreover in the current study more numbers of adult andsubadult primates were counted )is indicates that theprimate population of Welel Mountain are currently ongood status and their number will increase in the future

5 Conclusion

We identified four primate species of Welel Mountainnamely Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis Papioanubis and Colobus guereza )e four primate speciesidentified on Welel Mountain have different habitat pref-erences)e findings obtained from this study indicated thatthe number of individual primates counted in wet season isless than that of dry season )ese differences in distributionof primatersquos population may be due to the availability ofwater and food in different seasons )erefore water andfood availability or the combinations of both are the majorfactors determining the abundance and distribution ofprimates Since the availability of these resources differsfrom season to season as well as from habitat to habitat theabundance and diversity of the primates vary As a resultduring the wet season there is migration of primate pop-ulations from the forest woodland or shrubs to thefarmland in search of food Based on the age category morenumber of subadult primates was counted From this we canpredict that their number will increase in the future )ecurrent study showed that from the all primate species

identified in the study area Chlorocebus aethiops and Papioanubis were relatively more abundant during wet and dryseason respectively )is is due to the ability of Chlorocebusaethiops and Papio anubis to exploit different varieties offood which enables them to survive and this may in partaccount for determining their distribution Cercopithecusmitis were observed relatively in least number )is may bebecause their habitat preferences are more than those ofother primates of this area

Accordingly to keep the good status of primates in thestudy area the policymakers and wildlife managers should

(i) formulate effective wildlife management and con-servation policy

(ii) implement appropriate measures of controllingregular clearing of the plant species in the studyarea

(iii) carry out primate population censuses in the studyarea at specific time to determine their populationtrends

(iv) conduct ecological research about the feeding be-havior and diurnal activity on the species since it isessential to know the ecological relationship of thespecies with their respective environment andhabitats

Data Availability

)e data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request

Conflicts of Interest

)e authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest inany form regarding the publication of this paper

Acknowledgments

)e authors are thankful to Debre Berhan University forfinancial assistance and facilities)e authors would also liketo express their warmest appreciation to the Federal Min-istry of Education of Ethiopia for providing funds

References

[1] P J Fashing ldquoBehavior ecology and conservation of colobinemonkeys an introductionrdquo International Journal of Prima-tology vol 28 no 3 pp 507ndash511 2007

[2] C Groves ldquoOrder primatesrdquo inMammal Species of theWorldA Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 111ndash184 D Wilsonand D Reeder Eds vol 1 3rd edition 2005

[3] IUCN African Primates Status Survey and ConservationAction Plan IUCN Gland Switzerland Revised edition 1996

[4] A Colin M J Chapman and A Harriet ldquoWhat hope forAfrican primatediversityrdquo African Journal of Ecology vol 44pp 116ndash133 2006

[5] A C Hamilton and D Taylor ldquoHistory of climate and forestsin tropical Africa during the last 8 million yearsrdquo TropicalForests and Climate vol 19 pp 65ndash78 1991

[6] M J Lawes and H A C Eeley ldquoAre local patterns of an-thropoid primate diversity related to patterns of diversity at a

6 )e Scientific World Journal

larger scalerdquo Journal of Biogeography vol 27 no 6pp 1421ndash1435 2000

[7] Y Long C R Kirkpatrick T Zhongtai and L XiaolinldquoReport on the distribution population and ecology of theYunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti)rdquo Primatesvol 35 no 2 pp 241ndash250 1994

[8] T S Romdal M B Araujo and C Rahbek ldquoLife on a tropicalplanet niche conservatism and the global diversity gradientrdquoGlobal Ecology and Biogeography vol 22 no 3 pp 344ndash3502013

[9] P M Vitousek H A Mooney J Lubchenco andJ M Melillo ldquoHuman domination of Earthrsquos ecosystemsrdquoScience vol 277 no 5325 pp 494ndash499 1997

[10] C Chapman and S Russo ldquoPrimate seed dispersalrdquo in Pri-mates in Perspective C J Campbell A FuentesK MacKinnon et al Eds p 510 Oxford University PressOxford UK 2007

[11] P Grubb T M Butynski J F Oates et al ldquoAssessment of thediversity of African primatesrdquo International Journal of Pri-matology vol 24 no 6 pp 1301ndash1357 2003

[12] G Cowlishaw and R Dunbar Primate Conservation Biology)e University of Chicago Press Chicago IL USA 2000

[13] R A Mittermeier J F Oates A E Eudey and J )ornbackldquoPrimate conservation 3ndash72rdquo in Comparative Primate Biol-ogy G Mitchell and J Erwin Eds Alan R Liss Inc NewYork USA 1986

[14] R Gonfa G Tsegaye and H Tadesse ldquoDiversity abundanceand habitat association of medium and large sized mammalsof Dati Welel National park western Ethiopiardquo InternationalJournal of Biodiversity and Conservation vol 7 no 2pp 112ndash118 2015

[15] D R Anderson J L Laake B R Crain and K P BurnhamldquoGuidelines for line transect sampling of biological pop-ulationsrdquo e Journal of Wildlife Management vol 43 no 1pp 70ndash78 1979

[16] A J Plumper and V Reynolds ldquo)e impact of selectivelogging on the primate populations in the Budongo forestreserve Ugandardquo Journal of Applied Ecology vol 31pp 631ndash641 1994

[17] C Peres ldquoGeneral guidelines for standardizing line-transectsurveys of tropical forest primatesrdquo Neotropical Primatesvol 7 pp 11ndash16 1999

[18] J C Hillman Ethiopia Compendium of Wildlife ConservationInformation Vol 1 EWCO Addis Ababa Ethiopia 1993

[19] C J Krebs Ecology e Experimental Analysis of Abundanceand Distribution Harper and Row New York USA 2ndedition 1978

[20] P J Fashing N Nguyen P Luteshi W Opondo J F CashandM Cords ldquoEvaluating the suitability of planted forests forAfrican Forest Monkeys a case study from Kakamega forestKenyardquo American Journal of Primatology vol 74 no 1pp 77ndash90 2012

[21] M Balakrishinan and P Easa ldquoHabitat preference of largemammals in the parambikulam wildlife sanctuary KeralaIndiardquo Journal of Biological Conservation vol 37 no 3pp 191ndash200 1986

[22] C M Hill ldquoConflict of interest between people and baboonscrop raiding in Ugandardquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 21 no 2 pp 299ndash315 2000

[23] N Priston ldquoAssessment of crop damage by Macacao chreatabrunnescens in south east Sulawesi a farmerrsquos perspectiverdquoUniversity of Cambridge Cambridge UK Part II dissertation2001

[24] L K Cawthon ldquoPrimate factsheets olive baboon (Papioanubis) taxonomy morphology amp ecologyrdquo 2006 httppinprimatewiscedufactsheetsentryolive_baboon

[25] C A Chapman L J Chapman and T R Gillespie ldquoScaleissues in the study of primate foraging red Colobus of Kibalenational parkrdquo American Journal of Physical Anthropologyvol 117 no 4 pp 349ndash363 2002

[26] G M Isabirye-Basuta and J S Lwanga ldquoPrimate populationsand their interactions with changing habitatsrdquo InternationalJournal of Primatology vol 29 no 1 pp 35ndash48 2008

[27] M Yihune A Bekele and Z Tefera ldquoHuman-gelada baboonconflict in and around the Simien mountains national parkEthiopiardquo African Journal of Ecology vol 47 no 3pp 276ndash282 2009

[28] A Whiten R W Byrne R A Barton P G Waterman andS Henzi Dietary and Foraging Strategies of Baboonspp 187ndash197 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal SocietyLondon UK 1991

[29] D W Yalden M J Largen and D Kock ldquoCatalogue of themammals of Ethiopiardquo Monitore Zoologico Italiano Supple-mento vol 8 no 1 pp 1ndash118 1976

[30] T Dereje J F Peter B Afework M Addisu and A AnagawldquoEcological flexibility in Boutourlinirsquos blue monkeys (Cerco-pithecus mitis boutourlinii) in Jibat forest Ethiopia a com-parison of habitat use ranging behavior and diet intact andfragmented forestrdquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 34 pp 615ndash640 2013

[31] T Butynski and S Gippoliti ldquoCercopithecus mitis boutourliniissp IUCN red list of threatened speciesrdquo 2017 httpwwwiucnredlistorg

[32] T M Butynski ldquoComparative ecology of blue monkeys(Cercopithecus mitis) in high- and low-density subpopula-tionsrdquo Ecological Monographs vol 60 no 1 pp 1ndash26 1990

)e Scientific World Journal 7

23 Data Analysis Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS) version 200 (computer software for Windowsevaluation version program) and Microsoft Excel spread-sheets were used to analyze the data collected during thesurvey One-way ANOVA was used to compare the relativeabundance and distribution of primates in each habitat at 5level of significance

3 Results

31 Primate Species Identified in Different Habitats of WelelMountain A total of 4 species of primates namelyChlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis Papio anubis andColobus guereza were observed at Welel Mountain throughdirect and indirect observations Woodland habitatencompassed 66 107 5 and 121 individuals of Colobusguereza Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis andPapio anubis respectively in wet season and 68 115 6 and146 individuals of Colobus guereza Chlorocebus aethiopsCercopithecus mitis and Papio anubis respectively in dryseason Riverine forest contained 86 176 8 and 204 indi-viduals of Colobus guereza Chlorocebus aethiops

Cercopithecus mitis and Papio anubis respectively in dryseason and 82 154 7 and 131 individuals of Colobusguereza Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis andPapio anubis respectively in wet season whereas Shrub landis inhabited by 61 Colobus guereza 92 Chlorocebus aethiopsno Cercopithecus mitis and 97 Papio anubis individualsduring the dry season and 56 Colobus guereza 89 Chlor-ocebus aethiops no Cercopithecus mitis and 88 Papio anubisindividuals in wet season (see Figures 2 and 3)

32 Diversity Indices for Primates at Welel Mountain )esum total of 1965 individual primates were counted andrecorded in both wet and dry seasons )is means on av-erage 983 individuals were identified and recorded in thestudy area From these the total number of primatescounted in wet season is less than that of dry season (seeTable 1) )e result from the interview revealed that there ismigration of primates from the forest to the farmland duringthe wet season )erefore the number of primates countedin wet season is less than that of dry season )e woodlandwas represented by 634 individuals while riverine forest and

N

Welel Mountain

0

34deg40prime0primeprimeE

8deg45prime0primeprimeN

8deg50prime0primeprimeN

8deg55prime0primeprimeN

9deg0prime0primeprimeN

9deg5prime0primeprimeN

9deg10prime0primeprimeN

Map of Kellem Wollega zone

34deg45prime0primeprimeE 34deg50prime0primeprimeE 34deg55prime0primeprimeE 35deg0prime0primeprimeE

5 10 20km

Map of Ethiopia

Mount_welel

Gurati welel and Tomfi-chari

Figure 1 Map of the study area

)e Scientific World Journal 3

shrubs were represented by 848 and 483 individuals re-spectively On average (wet and dry season) 4316 of thetotal primates were counted in the forest 3226 werecounted in woodland and finally 2458 were counted inshrubs Moreover relative abundance and diversity indices(Hprime) of each primate species in wet and dry season for thethree habitat types were also calculated (see Table 1)

Shannon-Wiener (Hprime) value is 114 for wet season and111 for dry season (see Table 1) which means that Shannon-Wiener diversity index (Hprime) value is higher in wet seasonthan in dry season

High value of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime) is scored inforest habitat during dry season this shows that forestharbors high number of individual primates Moreover highvalue of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime) was observed in theforest during the wet season (see Table 2) )is evidencesuggests that primate species are more diversified and evenlydistributed in the forest of Welel Mountain Among thethree habitat types shrubs have the least diversified anddistributed primate species

4 Discussions

On average (in wet and dry season) we counted 43163226 and 2458 of the total primates in the forestwoodland and shrubs habitats respectively )us foresthabitat harbors the highest number of primate speciesDistribution and habitat association of primates are deter-mined in terms of their water and food requirements as wellas suitability of foods According to [20] there is foodpreference among different primate species and not all foodsare suitable for themWater and food or the combinations ofboth are the major factors determining the distribution ofwildlife populations in their natural habitats [21]

However the availability of these resources differs fromseason to season as a result the abundance and distributionof the primates differ from habitat to habitat since theyprefer the area where all the life necessities are fulfilledHowever if the resources are not available enough com-petition will be formed and migration will take place

Similarly our current study revealed that there was mi-gration of primates from forest to farmland during the wetseason )is implies that some primates move to thefarmland in search of food)is result is consistent with [22]who reported that the wild animals are increasing year byyear which is due to competitions for resources between wildanimals and human populations )is process can also causeconflict between primates and human population Habitatdestruction and fragmentation were the main cause ofhuman-primate conflict in Indonesia [23]

)e result of our study showed that the population ofprimates in the area varied from season to season From allthe four primate species that were identified in the studyarea Chlorocebus aethiops and Papio anubis were relativelyabundant during wet and dry season respectively )isindicates that the ability of Chlorocebus aethiops and Papioanubis to exploit different varieties of food enables them tosurvive with large number of populations in the area )isgoes in line with a study conducted by [24] who reportedthat one major reason for the wide spread of such primates istheir feeding types For example dietary specialists andgeneralists may not be distributed equally Similarly a studyconducted in Uganda demonstrated that the species are veryflexible in terms of plant species and parts exploited for food[25 26] Hence differences in diets among primate speciesmay in part account for determining their distributionShannon-Wiener diversity index (Hprime) value is higher in wetseason (114) than in dry season (111) However numbers ofindividuals of primates counted in wet season are less thanthose of dry season Here Shannon-Wiener index value doesnot consider number of individuals only instead it considersboth species evenness and species richness

Relatively more primate population was recorded duringthe dry season than the wet season because the availability offood is more on the farmland than the forest (on themountain) during the wet season and the farmland acrossthe forest becomes attractive and provides a plenty of foodsources for these primates )erefore during the wet seasonthere is migration of primate populations from the forestwoodland or shrubs to the farmland Nevertheless duringthe dry season food becomes scarce in the farmland andthus the primates might temporally migrate back from

ForestWood landShrubs

P anubis C mitis C aethiops C guereza0

90

60

30

120

Num

ber o

f prim

ates

150

180

210

240204

176

11592 86

68 61

146

97

8 6 0

Figure 3 Number of primates at Welel Mountain in dry season

0

30

60

90

120

150

180

ForestWood landShrubs

P anubis C mitis

131121

88

7 50

154

107

8982

6656

C aethiops C guereza

Num

ber o

f ind

ivid

uals

Figure 2 Number of primates at Welel Mountain in wet season

4 )e Scientific World Journal

farmland to forest woodland or shrubs )is result is in linewith a study conducted by [27] who reported that moreprimate population was recorded on farmland during thewet season than the dry season

Our study results show that riverine forest has supportedthe highest number of primate species which is 374 indi-viduals in wet season and 474 individuals in dry seasonfollowed by woodland which comprised 299 individuals inwet season and 335 in dry season and shrub land habitatharbored 233 individuals in wet season and 250 in dryseason From the result of the current study the calculated P

value for distribution of primates with regard to habitats is058 )is value is greater than α (005) and it shows thatalthough there is a difference in number of individualsamong the three habitats there is no significant differencebetween the three habitats based on the abundance ofprimate species Similarly the calculated P value obtainedfrom the comparison of primates in wet and dry season is02 which is greater than 005 )is shows that statisticallythere is no significant difference between the mean numbersof primates in wet and dry season

In addition a high value of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime)was observed in woodland in case of dry season and in forestin case of wet season )e possible reason for this distri-bution and diversity might be the availability of food and

water with regard to seasonal variation )e olive baboons(Papio anubis) were relatively the most abundant species inthe present study area

)is may be due to the ability of Papio anubis to exploitdifferent varieties of food more than other primates in thisstudy )is goes in line with [24] reporting that one majorreason for olive baboonrsquos widespread success is that it isomnivorous )e olive baboon searches as wide area as it canand it eats virtually everything it finds including small animals

Similarly the olive baboon in shrubs goes about findingfood differently from that in the surrounding forest As suchit is able to find nutrition in almost any environment and itis able to adapt with different foraging tactics )e baboonforages on all levels of an environment above and beneaththe ground and in the canopy of forests but most animalsonly look for food at one level an arboreal species such as alemur does not look for food on the ground [28] Olivebaboon appeared to be more concentrated in the riverineforest besides it was also recorded in woodland and in leastnumber in shrub land

)e second most dominant primate species in the studyarea was Chlorocebus aethiops which is widely distributed andoften a common species in different parts of Ethiopia occu-pying a wide variety of habitats ranging from riverine tropicaldeciduous ormontane forest to comparatively openwoodland

Table 2 Species richness diversity indices (Hprime) and relative abundance of total primates in each habitat type during the wet and dry seasons

Wet season Dry season

Habitat Primatespecies

No ofindividuals

Relativeabundance

Shannondiversityindex (Hprime)

Habitat Primatespecies

No ofindividuals

Relativeabundance

Shannondiversity index

(Hprime)

Forest

A 82 022

Forest

A 86 018B 154 041 114 B 176 037 111C 7 002 C 8 002D 131 035 D 204 043

Total 374 Total 474

Woodland

A 46 043

Woodland

A 68 020B 107 038 B 115 034C 5 002 11 C 6 002 112D 121 043 D 146 044

Total 279 Total 335

Shrubs

A 56 024

Shrubs

A 61 024B 89 038 108 B 92 037 108C 0 000 C 0 000D 88 038 D 97 039

Total 233 Total 250A Colobus guereza B Chlorocebus aethiops C Cercopithecus mitis D Papio anubis

Table 1 Species richness relative abundance and diversity indices (Hprime) of each primate species in wet and dry season

Types of primate species at WelelMountain

In wet season In dry seasonNo of

individualsRelative abundance

(pi) Hprime No ofindividuals

Relative abundance(pi) Hprime

C guereza 204 023 034 215 020 032C aethiops 350 039 037 383 036 037P anubis 340 038 037 447 042 036C mitis 12 001 006 14 001 006

114 111

)e Scientific World Journal 5

In many areas this monkey frequents human settlements andfeeds extensively on cultivated plants )e species has beenrecorded near sea level and extends to an altitude of at least3000m [29] In line with [29] in this study the species wasobserved mostly in riverine forest habitat )is association ofChlorocebus aethiops (grivet monkey) with riverine forestmight be due to the availability of fruit tree species

In contrast to other primates colobus monkey was morefrequently seen on the top of trees during the day and nightand usually it cannot feed on agricultural crops )is ad-aptation might prevent the species from human andpredatorrsquos damage In some areas the species survives inrelatively small patches of remnant forest and it is in generaltolerant of the presence of man [29] )is might correlatewith the habit that colobus monkey was more frequentlyseen on the top of tree and it cannot damage and feed onagricultural crops

Lastly blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis boutourlinii)was relatively observed in more number in forest than otherhabitats in the study area According to [30] the boutourliniiblue monkey groups were inhabiting relatively undisturbedand tree-dominated forest at Jibat but venturing out intonearby bush land only occasionally to feed on some fruits)is subspecies was recently listed as vulnerable by IUCNbecause of extensive and uncontrolled destruction of theforests it occupies for both timber and agricultural pro-duction [31] )is may be because their habitat preferencesare more than those of other primates In the case of thepresent study area more count of blue monkey was done inforest than other habitat types According to [32] bluemonkeys are among Africarsquos arboreal primate species andinhabit a variety of forest types (tropical moist forests)Moreover in the current study more numbers of adult andsubadult primates were counted )is indicates that theprimate population of Welel Mountain are currently ongood status and their number will increase in the future

5 Conclusion

We identified four primate species of Welel Mountainnamely Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis Papioanubis and Colobus guereza )e four primate speciesidentified on Welel Mountain have different habitat pref-erences)e findings obtained from this study indicated thatthe number of individual primates counted in wet season isless than that of dry season )ese differences in distributionof primatersquos population may be due to the availability ofwater and food in different seasons )erefore water andfood availability or the combinations of both are the majorfactors determining the abundance and distribution ofprimates Since the availability of these resources differsfrom season to season as well as from habitat to habitat theabundance and diversity of the primates vary As a resultduring the wet season there is migration of primate pop-ulations from the forest woodland or shrubs to thefarmland in search of food Based on the age category morenumber of subadult primates was counted From this we canpredict that their number will increase in the future )ecurrent study showed that from the all primate species

identified in the study area Chlorocebus aethiops and Papioanubis were relatively more abundant during wet and dryseason respectively )is is due to the ability of Chlorocebusaethiops and Papio anubis to exploit different varieties offood which enables them to survive and this may in partaccount for determining their distribution Cercopithecusmitis were observed relatively in least number )is may bebecause their habitat preferences are more than those ofother primates of this area

Accordingly to keep the good status of primates in thestudy area the policymakers and wildlife managers should

(i) formulate effective wildlife management and con-servation policy

(ii) implement appropriate measures of controllingregular clearing of the plant species in the studyarea

(iii) carry out primate population censuses in the studyarea at specific time to determine their populationtrends

(iv) conduct ecological research about the feeding be-havior and diurnal activity on the species since it isessential to know the ecological relationship of thespecies with their respective environment andhabitats

Data Availability

)e data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request

Conflicts of Interest

)e authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest inany form regarding the publication of this paper

Acknowledgments

)e authors are thankful to Debre Berhan University forfinancial assistance and facilities)e authors would also liketo express their warmest appreciation to the Federal Min-istry of Education of Ethiopia for providing funds

References

[1] P J Fashing ldquoBehavior ecology and conservation of colobinemonkeys an introductionrdquo International Journal of Prima-tology vol 28 no 3 pp 507ndash511 2007

[2] C Groves ldquoOrder primatesrdquo inMammal Species of theWorldA Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 111ndash184 D Wilsonand D Reeder Eds vol 1 3rd edition 2005

[3] IUCN African Primates Status Survey and ConservationAction Plan IUCN Gland Switzerland Revised edition 1996

[4] A Colin M J Chapman and A Harriet ldquoWhat hope forAfrican primatediversityrdquo African Journal of Ecology vol 44pp 116ndash133 2006

[5] A C Hamilton and D Taylor ldquoHistory of climate and forestsin tropical Africa during the last 8 million yearsrdquo TropicalForests and Climate vol 19 pp 65ndash78 1991

[6] M J Lawes and H A C Eeley ldquoAre local patterns of an-thropoid primate diversity related to patterns of diversity at a

6 )e Scientific World Journal

larger scalerdquo Journal of Biogeography vol 27 no 6pp 1421ndash1435 2000

[7] Y Long C R Kirkpatrick T Zhongtai and L XiaolinldquoReport on the distribution population and ecology of theYunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti)rdquo Primatesvol 35 no 2 pp 241ndash250 1994

[8] T S Romdal M B Araujo and C Rahbek ldquoLife on a tropicalplanet niche conservatism and the global diversity gradientrdquoGlobal Ecology and Biogeography vol 22 no 3 pp 344ndash3502013

[9] P M Vitousek H A Mooney J Lubchenco andJ M Melillo ldquoHuman domination of Earthrsquos ecosystemsrdquoScience vol 277 no 5325 pp 494ndash499 1997

[10] C Chapman and S Russo ldquoPrimate seed dispersalrdquo in Pri-mates in Perspective C J Campbell A FuentesK MacKinnon et al Eds p 510 Oxford University PressOxford UK 2007

[11] P Grubb T M Butynski J F Oates et al ldquoAssessment of thediversity of African primatesrdquo International Journal of Pri-matology vol 24 no 6 pp 1301ndash1357 2003

[12] G Cowlishaw and R Dunbar Primate Conservation Biology)e University of Chicago Press Chicago IL USA 2000

[13] R A Mittermeier J F Oates A E Eudey and J )ornbackldquoPrimate conservation 3ndash72rdquo in Comparative Primate Biol-ogy G Mitchell and J Erwin Eds Alan R Liss Inc NewYork USA 1986

[14] R Gonfa G Tsegaye and H Tadesse ldquoDiversity abundanceand habitat association of medium and large sized mammalsof Dati Welel National park western Ethiopiardquo InternationalJournal of Biodiversity and Conservation vol 7 no 2pp 112ndash118 2015

[15] D R Anderson J L Laake B R Crain and K P BurnhamldquoGuidelines for line transect sampling of biological pop-ulationsrdquo e Journal of Wildlife Management vol 43 no 1pp 70ndash78 1979

[16] A J Plumper and V Reynolds ldquo)e impact of selectivelogging on the primate populations in the Budongo forestreserve Ugandardquo Journal of Applied Ecology vol 31pp 631ndash641 1994

[17] C Peres ldquoGeneral guidelines for standardizing line-transectsurveys of tropical forest primatesrdquo Neotropical Primatesvol 7 pp 11ndash16 1999

[18] J C Hillman Ethiopia Compendium of Wildlife ConservationInformation Vol 1 EWCO Addis Ababa Ethiopia 1993

[19] C J Krebs Ecology e Experimental Analysis of Abundanceand Distribution Harper and Row New York USA 2ndedition 1978

[20] P J Fashing N Nguyen P Luteshi W Opondo J F CashandM Cords ldquoEvaluating the suitability of planted forests forAfrican Forest Monkeys a case study from Kakamega forestKenyardquo American Journal of Primatology vol 74 no 1pp 77ndash90 2012

[21] M Balakrishinan and P Easa ldquoHabitat preference of largemammals in the parambikulam wildlife sanctuary KeralaIndiardquo Journal of Biological Conservation vol 37 no 3pp 191ndash200 1986

[22] C M Hill ldquoConflict of interest between people and baboonscrop raiding in Ugandardquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 21 no 2 pp 299ndash315 2000

[23] N Priston ldquoAssessment of crop damage by Macacao chreatabrunnescens in south east Sulawesi a farmerrsquos perspectiverdquoUniversity of Cambridge Cambridge UK Part II dissertation2001

[24] L K Cawthon ldquoPrimate factsheets olive baboon (Papioanubis) taxonomy morphology amp ecologyrdquo 2006 httppinprimatewiscedufactsheetsentryolive_baboon

[25] C A Chapman L J Chapman and T R Gillespie ldquoScaleissues in the study of primate foraging red Colobus of Kibalenational parkrdquo American Journal of Physical Anthropologyvol 117 no 4 pp 349ndash363 2002

[26] G M Isabirye-Basuta and J S Lwanga ldquoPrimate populationsand their interactions with changing habitatsrdquo InternationalJournal of Primatology vol 29 no 1 pp 35ndash48 2008

[27] M Yihune A Bekele and Z Tefera ldquoHuman-gelada baboonconflict in and around the Simien mountains national parkEthiopiardquo African Journal of Ecology vol 47 no 3pp 276ndash282 2009

[28] A Whiten R W Byrne R A Barton P G Waterman andS Henzi Dietary and Foraging Strategies of Baboonspp 187ndash197 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal SocietyLondon UK 1991

[29] D W Yalden M J Largen and D Kock ldquoCatalogue of themammals of Ethiopiardquo Monitore Zoologico Italiano Supple-mento vol 8 no 1 pp 1ndash118 1976

[30] T Dereje J F Peter B Afework M Addisu and A AnagawldquoEcological flexibility in Boutourlinirsquos blue monkeys (Cerco-pithecus mitis boutourlinii) in Jibat forest Ethiopia a com-parison of habitat use ranging behavior and diet intact andfragmented forestrdquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 34 pp 615ndash640 2013

[31] T Butynski and S Gippoliti ldquoCercopithecus mitis boutourliniissp IUCN red list of threatened speciesrdquo 2017 httpwwwiucnredlistorg

[32] T M Butynski ldquoComparative ecology of blue monkeys(Cercopithecus mitis) in high- and low-density subpopula-tionsrdquo Ecological Monographs vol 60 no 1 pp 1ndash26 1990

)e Scientific World Journal 7

shrubs were represented by 848 and 483 individuals re-spectively On average (wet and dry season) 4316 of thetotal primates were counted in the forest 3226 werecounted in woodland and finally 2458 were counted inshrubs Moreover relative abundance and diversity indices(Hprime) of each primate species in wet and dry season for thethree habitat types were also calculated (see Table 1)

Shannon-Wiener (Hprime) value is 114 for wet season and111 for dry season (see Table 1) which means that Shannon-Wiener diversity index (Hprime) value is higher in wet seasonthan in dry season

High value of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime) is scored inforest habitat during dry season this shows that forestharbors high number of individual primates Moreover highvalue of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime) was observed in theforest during the wet season (see Table 2) )is evidencesuggests that primate species are more diversified and evenlydistributed in the forest of Welel Mountain Among thethree habitat types shrubs have the least diversified anddistributed primate species

4 Discussions

On average (in wet and dry season) we counted 43163226 and 2458 of the total primates in the forestwoodland and shrubs habitats respectively )us foresthabitat harbors the highest number of primate speciesDistribution and habitat association of primates are deter-mined in terms of their water and food requirements as wellas suitability of foods According to [20] there is foodpreference among different primate species and not all foodsare suitable for themWater and food or the combinations ofboth are the major factors determining the distribution ofwildlife populations in their natural habitats [21]

However the availability of these resources differs fromseason to season as a result the abundance and distributionof the primates differ from habitat to habitat since theyprefer the area where all the life necessities are fulfilledHowever if the resources are not available enough com-petition will be formed and migration will take place

Similarly our current study revealed that there was mi-gration of primates from forest to farmland during the wetseason )is implies that some primates move to thefarmland in search of food)is result is consistent with [22]who reported that the wild animals are increasing year byyear which is due to competitions for resources between wildanimals and human populations )is process can also causeconflict between primates and human population Habitatdestruction and fragmentation were the main cause ofhuman-primate conflict in Indonesia [23]

)e result of our study showed that the population ofprimates in the area varied from season to season From allthe four primate species that were identified in the studyarea Chlorocebus aethiops and Papio anubis were relativelyabundant during wet and dry season respectively )isindicates that the ability of Chlorocebus aethiops and Papioanubis to exploit different varieties of food enables them tosurvive with large number of populations in the area )isgoes in line with a study conducted by [24] who reportedthat one major reason for the wide spread of such primates istheir feeding types For example dietary specialists andgeneralists may not be distributed equally Similarly a studyconducted in Uganda demonstrated that the species are veryflexible in terms of plant species and parts exploited for food[25 26] Hence differences in diets among primate speciesmay in part account for determining their distributionShannon-Wiener diversity index (Hprime) value is higher in wetseason (114) than in dry season (111) However numbers ofindividuals of primates counted in wet season are less thanthose of dry season Here Shannon-Wiener index value doesnot consider number of individuals only instead it considersboth species evenness and species richness

Relatively more primate population was recorded duringthe dry season than the wet season because the availability offood is more on the farmland than the forest (on themountain) during the wet season and the farmland acrossthe forest becomes attractive and provides a plenty of foodsources for these primates )erefore during the wet seasonthere is migration of primate populations from the forestwoodland or shrubs to the farmland Nevertheless duringthe dry season food becomes scarce in the farmland andthus the primates might temporally migrate back from

ForestWood landShrubs

P anubis C mitis C aethiops C guereza0

90

60

30

120

Num

ber o

f prim

ates

150

180

210

240204

176

11592 86

68 61

146

97

8 6 0

Figure 3 Number of primates at Welel Mountain in dry season

0

30

60

90

120

150

180

ForestWood landShrubs

P anubis C mitis

131121

88

7 50

154

107

8982

6656

C aethiops C guereza

Num

ber o

f ind

ivid

uals

Figure 2 Number of primates at Welel Mountain in wet season

4 )e Scientific World Journal

farmland to forest woodland or shrubs )is result is in linewith a study conducted by [27] who reported that moreprimate population was recorded on farmland during thewet season than the dry season

Our study results show that riverine forest has supportedthe highest number of primate species which is 374 indi-viduals in wet season and 474 individuals in dry seasonfollowed by woodland which comprised 299 individuals inwet season and 335 in dry season and shrub land habitatharbored 233 individuals in wet season and 250 in dryseason From the result of the current study the calculated P

value for distribution of primates with regard to habitats is058 )is value is greater than α (005) and it shows thatalthough there is a difference in number of individualsamong the three habitats there is no significant differencebetween the three habitats based on the abundance ofprimate species Similarly the calculated P value obtainedfrom the comparison of primates in wet and dry season is02 which is greater than 005 )is shows that statisticallythere is no significant difference between the mean numbersof primates in wet and dry season

In addition a high value of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime)was observed in woodland in case of dry season and in forestin case of wet season )e possible reason for this distri-bution and diversity might be the availability of food and

water with regard to seasonal variation )e olive baboons(Papio anubis) were relatively the most abundant species inthe present study area

)is may be due to the ability of Papio anubis to exploitdifferent varieties of food more than other primates in thisstudy )is goes in line with [24] reporting that one majorreason for olive baboonrsquos widespread success is that it isomnivorous )e olive baboon searches as wide area as it canand it eats virtually everything it finds including small animals

Similarly the olive baboon in shrubs goes about findingfood differently from that in the surrounding forest As suchit is able to find nutrition in almost any environment and itis able to adapt with different foraging tactics )e baboonforages on all levels of an environment above and beneaththe ground and in the canopy of forests but most animalsonly look for food at one level an arboreal species such as alemur does not look for food on the ground [28] Olivebaboon appeared to be more concentrated in the riverineforest besides it was also recorded in woodland and in leastnumber in shrub land

)e second most dominant primate species in the studyarea was Chlorocebus aethiops which is widely distributed andoften a common species in different parts of Ethiopia occu-pying a wide variety of habitats ranging from riverine tropicaldeciduous ormontane forest to comparatively openwoodland

Table 2 Species richness diversity indices (Hprime) and relative abundance of total primates in each habitat type during the wet and dry seasons

Wet season Dry season

Habitat Primatespecies

No ofindividuals

Relativeabundance

Shannondiversityindex (Hprime)

Habitat Primatespecies

No ofindividuals

Relativeabundance

Shannondiversity index

(Hprime)

Forest

A 82 022

Forest

A 86 018B 154 041 114 B 176 037 111C 7 002 C 8 002D 131 035 D 204 043

Total 374 Total 474

Woodland

A 46 043

Woodland

A 68 020B 107 038 B 115 034C 5 002 11 C 6 002 112D 121 043 D 146 044

Total 279 Total 335

Shrubs

A 56 024

Shrubs

A 61 024B 89 038 108 B 92 037 108C 0 000 C 0 000D 88 038 D 97 039

Total 233 Total 250A Colobus guereza B Chlorocebus aethiops C Cercopithecus mitis D Papio anubis

Table 1 Species richness relative abundance and diversity indices (Hprime) of each primate species in wet and dry season

Types of primate species at WelelMountain

In wet season In dry seasonNo of

individualsRelative abundance

(pi) Hprime No ofindividuals

Relative abundance(pi) Hprime

C guereza 204 023 034 215 020 032C aethiops 350 039 037 383 036 037P anubis 340 038 037 447 042 036C mitis 12 001 006 14 001 006

114 111

)e Scientific World Journal 5

In many areas this monkey frequents human settlements andfeeds extensively on cultivated plants )e species has beenrecorded near sea level and extends to an altitude of at least3000m [29] In line with [29] in this study the species wasobserved mostly in riverine forest habitat )is association ofChlorocebus aethiops (grivet monkey) with riverine forestmight be due to the availability of fruit tree species

In contrast to other primates colobus monkey was morefrequently seen on the top of trees during the day and nightand usually it cannot feed on agricultural crops )is ad-aptation might prevent the species from human andpredatorrsquos damage In some areas the species survives inrelatively small patches of remnant forest and it is in generaltolerant of the presence of man [29] )is might correlatewith the habit that colobus monkey was more frequentlyseen on the top of tree and it cannot damage and feed onagricultural crops

Lastly blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis boutourlinii)was relatively observed in more number in forest than otherhabitats in the study area According to [30] the boutourliniiblue monkey groups were inhabiting relatively undisturbedand tree-dominated forest at Jibat but venturing out intonearby bush land only occasionally to feed on some fruits)is subspecies was recently listed as vulnerable by IUCNbecause of extensive and uncontrolled destruction of theforests it occupies for both timber and agricultural pro-duction [31] )is may be because their habitat preferencesare more than those of other primates In the case of thepresent study area more count of blue monkey was done inforest than other habitat types According to [32] bluemonkeys are among Africarsquos arboreal primate species andinhabit a variety of forest types (tropical moist forests)Moreover in the current study more numbers of adult andsubadult primates were counted )is indicates that theprimate population of Welel Mountain are currently ongood status and their number will increase in the future

5 Conclusion

We identified four primate species of Welel Mountainnamely Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis Papioanubis and Colobus guereza )e four primate speciesidentified on Welel Mountain have different habitat pref-erences)e findings obtained from this study indicated thatthe number of individual primates counted in wet season isless than that of dry season )ese differences in distributionof primatersquos population may be due to the availability ofwater and food in different seasons )erefore water andfood availability or the combinations of both are the majorfactors determining the abundance and distribution ofprimates Since the availability of these resources differsfrom season to season as well as from habitat to habitat theabundance and diversity of the primates vary As a resultduring the wet season there is migration of primate pop-ulations from the forest woodland or shrubs to thefarmland in search of food Based on the age category morenumber of subadult primates was counted From this we canpredict that their number will increase in the future )ecurrent study showed that from the all primate species

identified in the study area Chlorocebus aethiops and Papioanubis were relatively more abundant during wet and dryseason respectively )is is due to the ability of Chlorocebusaethiops and Papio anubis to exploit different varieties offood which enables them to survive and this may in partaccount for determining their distribution Cercopithecusmitis were observed relatively in least number )is may bebecause their habitat preferences are more than those ofother primates of this area

Accordingly to keep the good status of primates in thestudy area the policymakers and wildlife managers should

(i) formulate effective wildlife management and con-servation policy

(ii) implement appropriate measures of controllingregular clearing of the plant species in the studyarea

(iii) carry out primate population censuses in the studyarea at specific time to determine their populationtrends

(iv) conduct ecological research about the feeding be-havior and diurnal activity on the species since it isessential to know the ecological relationship of thespecies with their respective environment andhabitats

Data Availability

)e data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request

Conflicts of Interest

)e authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest inany form regarding the publication of this paper

Acknowledgments

)e authors are thankful to Debre Berhan University forfinancial assistance and facilities)e authors would also liketo express their warmest appreciation to the Federal Min-istry of Education of Ethiopia for providing funds

References

[1] P J Fashing ldquoBehavior ecology and conservation of colobinemonkeys an introductionrdquo International Journal of Prima-tology vol 28 no 3 pp 507ndash511 2007

[2] C Groves ldquoOrder primatesrdquo inMammal Species of theWorldA Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 111ndash184 D Wilsonand D Reeder Eds vol 1 3rd edition 2005

[3] IUCN African Primates Status Survey and ConservationAction Plan IUCN Gland Switzerland Revised edition 1996

[4] A Colin M J Chapman and A Harriet ldquoWhat hope forAfrican primatediversityrdquo African Journal of Ecology vol 44pp 116ndash133 2006

[5] A C Hamilton and D Taylor ldquoHistory of climate and forestsin tropical Africa during the last 8 million yearsrdquo TropicalForests and Climate vol 19 pp 65ndash78 1991

[6] M J Lawes and H A C Eeley ldquoAre local patterns of an-thropoid primate diversity related to patterns of diversity at a

6 )e Scientific World Journal

larger scalerdquo Journal of Biogeography vol 27 no 6pp 1421ndash1435 2000

[7] Y Long C R Kirkpatrick T Zhongtai and L XiaolinldquoReport on the distribution population and ecology of theYunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti)rdquo Primatesvol 35 no 2 pp 241ndash250 1994

[8] T S Romdal M B Araujo and C Rahbek ldquoLife on a tropicalplanet niche conservatism and the global diversity gradientrdquoGlobal Ecology and Biogeography vol 22 no 3 pp 344ndash3502013

[9] P M Vitousek H A Mooney J Lubchenco andJ M Melillo ldquoHuman domination of Earthrsquos ecosystemsrdquoScience vol 277 no 5325 pp 494ndash499 1997

[10] C Chapman and S Russo ldquoPrimate seed dispersalrdquo in Pri-mates in Perspective C J Campbell A FuentesK MacKinnon et al Eds p 510 Oxford University PressOxford UK 2007

[11] P Grubb T M Butynski J F Oates et al ldquoAssessment of thediversity of African primatesrdquo International Journal of Pri-matology vol 24 no 6 pp 1301ndash1357 2003

[12] G Cowlishaw and R Dunbar Primate Conservation Biology)e University of Chicago Press Chicago IL USA 2000

[13] R A Mittermeier J F Oates A E Eudey and J )ornbackldquoPrimate conservation 3ndash72rdquo in Comparative Primate Biol-ogy G Mitchell and J Erwin Eds Alan R Liss Inc NewYork USA 1986

[14] R Gonfa G Tsegaye and H Tadesse ldquoDiversity abundanceand habitat association of medium and large sized mammalsof Dati Welel National park western Ethiopiardquo InternationalJournal of Biodiversity and Conservation vol 7 no 2pp 112ndash118 2015

[15] D R Anderson J L Laake B R Crain and K P BurnhamldquoGuidelines for line transect sampling of biological pop-ulationsrdquo e Journal of Wildlife Management vol 43 no 1pp 70ndash78 1979

[16] A J Plumper and V Reynolds ldquo)e impact of selectivelogging on the primate populations in the Budongo forestreserve Ugandardquo Journal of Applied Ecology vol 31pp 631ndash641 1994

[17] C Peres ldquoGeneral guidelines for standardizing line-transectsurveys of tropical forest primatesrdquo Neotropical Primatesvol 7 pp 11ndash16 1999

[18] J C Hillman Ethiopia Compendium of Wildlife ConservationInformation Vol 1 EWCO Addis Ababa Ethiopia 1993

[19] C J Krebs Ecology e Experimental Analysis of Abundanceand Distribution Harper and Row New York USA 2ndedition 1978

[20] P J Fashing N Nguyen P Luteshi W Opondo J F CashandM Cords ldquoEvaluating the suitability of planted forests forAfrican Forest Monkeys a case study from Kakamega forestKenyardquo American Journal of Primatology vol 74 no 1pp 77ndash90 2012

[21] M Balakrishinan and P Easa ldquoHabitat preference of largemammals in the parambikulam wildlife sanctuary KeralaIndiardquo Journal of Biological Conservation vol 37 no 3pp 191ndash200 1986

[22] C M Hill ldquoConflict of interest between people and baboonscrop raiding in Ugandardquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 21 no 2 pp 299ndash315 2000

[23] N Priston ldquoAssessment of crop damage by Macacao chreatabrunnescens in south east Sulawesi a farmerrsquos perspectiverdquoUniversity of Cambridge Cambridge UK Part II dissertation2001

[24] L K Cawthon ldquoPrimate factsheets olive baboon (Papioanubis) taxonomy morphology amp ecologyrdquo 2006 httppinprimatewiscedufactsheetsentryolive_baboon

[25] C A Chapman L J Chapman and T R Gillespie ldquoScaleissues in the study of primate foraging red Colobus of Kibalenational parkrdquo American Journal of Physical Anthropologyvol 117 no 4 pp 349ndash363 2002

[26] G M Isabirye-Basuta and J S Lwanga ldquoPrimate populationsand their interactions with changing habitatsrdquo InternationalJournal of Primatology vol 29 no 1 pp 35ndash48 2008

[27] M Yihune A Bekele and Z Tefera ldquoHuman-gelada baboonconflict in and around the Simien mountains national parkEthiopiardquo African Journal of Ecology vol 47 no 3pp 276ndash282 2009

[28] A Whiten R W Byrne R A Barton P G Waterman andS Henzi Dietary and Foraging Strategies of Baboonspp 187ndash197 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal SocietyLondon UK 1991

[29] D W Yalden M J Largen and D Kock ldquoCatalogue of themammals of Ethiopiardquo Monitore Zoologico Italiano Supple-mento vol 8 no 1 pp 1ndash118 1976

[30] T Dereje J F Peter B Afework M Addisu and A AnagawldquoEcological flexibility in Boutourlinirsquos blue monkeys (Cerco-pithecus mitis boutourlinii) in Jibat forest Ethiopia a com-parison of habitat use ranging behavior and diet intact andfragmented forestrdquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 34 pp 615ndash640 2013

[31] T Butynski and S Gippoliti ldquoCercopithecus mitis boutourliniissp IUCN red list of threatened speciesrdquo 2017 httpwwwiucnredlistorg

[32] T M Butynski ldquoComparative ecology of blue monkeys(Cercopithecus mitis) in high- and low-density subpopula-tionsrdquo Ecological Monographs vol 60 no 1 pp 1ndash26 1990

)e Scientific World Journal 7

farmland to forest woodland or shrubs )is result is in linewith a study conducted by [27] who reported that moreprimate population was recorded on farmland during thewet season than the dry season

Our study results show that riverine forest has supportedthe highest number of primate species which is 374 indi-viduals in wet season and 474 individuals in dry seasonfollowed by woodland which comprised 299 individuals inwet season and 335 in dry season and shrub land habitatharbored 233 individuals in wet season and 250 in dryseason From the result of the current study the calculated P

value for distribution of primates with regard to habitats is058 )is value is greater than α (005) and it shows thatalthough there is a difference in number of individualsamong the three habitats there is no significant differencebetween the three habitats based on the abundance ofprimate species Similarly the calculated P value obtainedfrom the comparison of primates in wet and dry season is02 which is greater than 005 )is shows that statisticallythere is no significant difference between the mean numbersof primates in wet and dry season

In addition a high value of Shannon-Wiener index (Hprime)was observed in woodland in case of dry season and in forestin case of wet season )e possible reason for this distri-bution and diversity might be the availability of food and

water with regard to seasonal variation )e olive baboons(Papio anubis) were relatively the most abundant species inthe present study area

)is may be due to the ability of Papio anubis to exploitdifferent varieties of food more than other primates in thisstudy )is goes in line with [24] reporting that one majorreason for olive baboonrsquos widespread success is that it isomnivorous )e olive baboon searches as wide area as it canand it eats virtually everything it finds including small animals

Similarly the olive baboon in shrubs goes about findingfood differently from that in the surrounding forest As suchit is able to find nutrition in almost any environment and itis able to adapt with different foraging tactics )e baboonforages on all levels of an environment above and beneaththe ground and in the canopy of forests but most animalsonly look for food at one level an arboreal species such as alemur does not look for food on the ground [28] Olivebaboon appeared to be more concentrated in the riverineforest besides it was also recorded in woodland and in leastnumber in shrub land

)e second most dominant primate species in the studyarea was Chlorocebus aethiops which is widely distributed andoften a common species in different parts of Ethiopia occu-pying a wide variety of habitats ranging from riverine tropicaldeciduous ormontane forest to comparatively openwoodland

Table 2 Species richness diversity indices (Hprime) and relative abundance of total primates in each habitat type during the wet and dry seasons

Wet season Dry season

Habitat Primatespecies

No ofindividuals

Relativeabundance

Shannondiversityindex (Hprime)

Habitat Primatespecies

No ofindividuals

Relativeabundance

Shannondiversity index

(Hprime)

Forest

A 82 022

Forest

A 86 018B 154 041 114 B 176 037 111C 7 002 C 8 002D 131 035 D 204 043

Total 374 Total 474

Woodland

A 46 043

Woodland

A 68 020B 107 038 B 115 034C 5 002 11 C 6 002 112D 121 043 D 146 044

Total 279 Total 335

Shrubs

A 56 024

Shrubs

A 61 024B 89 038 108 B 92 037 108C 0 000 C 0 000D 88 038 D 97 039

Total 233 Total 250A Colobus guereza B Chlorocebus aethiops C Cercopithecus mitis D Papio anubis

Table 1 Species richness relative abundance and diversity indices (Hprime) of each primate species in wet and dry season

Types of primate species at WelelMountain

In wet season In dry seasonNo of

individualsRelative abundance

(pi) Hprime No ofindividuals

Relative abundance(pi) Hprime

C guereza 204 023 034 215 020 032C aethiops 350 039 037 383 036 037P anubis 340 038 037 447 042 036C mitis 12 001 006 14 001 006

114 111

)e Scientific World Journal 5

In many areas this monkey frequents human settlements andfeeds extensively on cultivated plants )e species has beenrecorded near sea level and extends to an altitude of at least3000m [29] In line with [29] in this study the species wasobserved mostly in riverine forest habitat )is association ofChlorocebus aethiops (grivet monkey) with riverine forestmight be due to the availability of fruit tree species

In contrast to other primates colobus monkey was morefrequently seen on the top of trees during the day and nightand usually it cannot feed on agricultural crops )is ad-aptation might prevent the species from human andpredatorrsquos damage In some areas the species survives inrelatively small patches of remnant forest and it is in generaltolerant of the presence of man [29] )is might correlatewith the habit that colobus monkey was more frequentlyseen on the top of tree and it cannot damage and feed onagricultural crops

Lastly blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis boutourlinii)was relatively observed in more number in forest than otherhabitats in the study area According to [30] the boutourliniiblue monkey groups were inhabiting relatively undisturbedand tree-dominated forest at Jibat but venturing out intonearby bush land only occasionally to feed on some fruits)is subspecies was recently listed as vulnerable by IUCNbecause of extensive and uncontrolled destruction of theforests it occupies for both timber and agricultural pro-duction [31] )is may be because their habitat preferencesare more than those of other primates In the case of thepresent study area more count of blue monkey was done inforest than other habitat types According to [32] bluemonkeys are among Africarsquos arboreal primate species andinhabit a variety of forest types (tropical moist forests)Moreover in the current study more numbers of adult andsubadult primates were counted )is indicates that theprimate population of Welel Mountain are currently ongood status and their number will increase in the future

5 Conclusion

We identified four primate species of Welel Mountainnamely Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis Papioanubis and Colobus guereza )e four primate speciesidentified on Welel Mountain have different habitat pref-erences)e findings obtained from this study indicated thatthe number of individual primates counted in wet season isless than that of dry season )ese differences in distributionof primatersquos population may be due to the availability ofwater and food in different seasons )erefore water andfood availability or the combinations of both are the majorfactors determining the abundance and distribution ofprimates Since the availability of these resources differsfrom season to season as well as from habitat to habitat theabundance and diversity of the primates vary As a resultduring the wet season there is migration of primate pop-ulations from the forest woodland or shrubs to thefarmland in search of food Based on the age category morenumber of subadult primates was counted From this we canpredict that their number will increase in the future )ecurrent study showed that from the all primate species

identified in the study area Chlorocebus aethiops and Papioanubis were relatively more abundant during wet and dryseason respectively )is is due to the ability of Chlorocebusaethiops and Papio anubis to exploit different varieties offood which enables them to survive and this may in partaccount for determining their distribution Cercopithecusmitis were observed relatively in least number )is may bebecause their habitat preferences are more than those ofother primates of this area

Accordingly to keep the good status of primates in thestudy area the policymakers and wildlife managers should

(i) formulate effective wildlife management and con-servation policy

(ii) implement appropriate measures of controllingregular clearing of the plant species in the studyarea

(iii) carry out primate population censuses in the studyarea at specific time to determine their populationtrends

(iv) conduct ecological research about the feeding be-havior and diurnal activity on the species since it isessential to know the ecological relationship of thespecies with their respective environment andhabitats

Data Availability

)e data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request

Conflicts of Interest

)e authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest inany form regarding the publication of this paper

Acknowledgments

)e authors are thankful to Debre Berhan University forfinancial assistance and facilities)e authors would also liketo express their warmest appreciation to the Federal Min-istry of Education of Ethiopia for providing funds

References

[1] P J Fashing ldquoBehavior ecology and conservation of colobinemonkeys an introductionrdquo International Journal of Prima-tology vol 28 no 3 pp 507ndash511 2007

[2] C Groves ldquoOrder primatesrdquo inMammal Species of theWorldA Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 111ndash184 D Wilsonand D Reeder Eds vol 1 3rd edition 2005

[3] IUCN African Primates Status Survey and ConservationAction Plan IUCN Gland Switzerland Revised edition 1996

[4] A Colin M J Chapman and A Harriet ldquoWhat hope forAfrican primatediversityrdquo African Journal of Ecology vol 44pp 116ndash133 2006

[5] A C Hamilton and D Taylor ldquoHistory of climate and forestsin tropical Africa during the last 8 million yearsrdquo TropicalForests and Climate vol 19 pp 65ndash78 1991

[6] M J Lawes and H A C Eeley ldquoAre local patterns of an-thropoid primate diversity related to patterns of diversity at a

6 )e Scientific World Journal

larger scalerdquo Journal of Biogeography vol 27 no 6pp 1421ndash1435 2000

[7] Y Long C R Kirkpatrick T Zhongtai and L XiaolinldquoReport on the distribution population and ecology of theYunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti)rdquo Primatesvol 35 no 2 pp 241ndash250 1994

[8] T S Romdal M B Araujo and C Rahbek ldquoLife on a tropicalplanet niche conservatism and the global diversity gradientrdquoGlobal Ecology and Biogeography vol 22 no 3 pp 344ndash3502013

[9] P M Vitousek H A Mooney J Lubchenco andJ M Melillo ldquoHuman domination of Earthrsquos ecosystemsrdquoScience vol 277 no 5325 pp 494ndash499 1997

[10] C Chapman and S Russo ldquoPrimate seed dispersalrdquo in Pri-mates in Perspective C J Campbell A FuentesK MacKinnon et al Eds p 510 Oxford University PressOxford UK 2007

[11] P Grubb T M Butynski J F Oates et al ldquoAssessment of thediversity of African primatesrdquo International Journal of Pri-matology vol 24 no 6 pp 1301ndash1357 2003

[12] G Cowlishaw and R Dunbar Primate Conservation Biology)e University of Chicago Press Chicago IL USA 2000

[13] R A Mittermeier J F Oates A E Eudey and J )ornbackldquoPrimate conservation 3ndash72rdquo in Comparative Primate Biol-ogy G Mitchell and J Erwin Eds Alan R Liss Inc NewYork USA 1986

[14] R Gonfa G Tsegaye and H Tadesse ldquoDiversity abundanceand habitat association of medium and large sized mammalsof Dati Welel National park western Ethiopiardquo InternationalJournal of Biodiversity and Conservation vol 7 no 2pp 112ndash118 2015

[15] D R Anderson J L Laake B R Crain and K P BurnhamldquoGuidelines for line transect sampling of biological pop-ulationsrdquo e Journal of Wildlife Management vol 43 no 1pp 70ndash78 1979

[16] A J Plumper and V Reynolds ldquo)e impact of selectivelogging on the primate populations in the Budongo forestreserve Ugandardquo Journal of Applied Ecology vol 31pp 631ndash641 1994

[17] C Peres ldquoGeneral guidelines for standardizing line-transectsurveys of tropical forest primatesrdquo Neotropical Primatesvol 7 pp 11ndash16 1999

[18] J C Hillman Ethiopia Compendium of Wildlife ConservationInformation Vol 1 EWCO Addis Ababa Ethiopia 1993

[19] C J Krebs Ecology e Experimental Analysis of Abundanceand Distribution Harper and Row New York USA 2ndedition 1978

[20] P J Fashing N Nguyen P Luteshi W Opondo J F CashandM Cords ldquoEvaluating the suitability of planted forests forAfrican Forest Monkeys a case study from Kakamega forestKenyardquo American Journal of Primatology vol 74 no 1pp 77ndash90 2012

[21] M Balakrishinan and P Easa ldquoHabitat preference of largemammals in the parambikulam wildlife sanctuary KeralaIndiardquo Journal of Biological Conservation vol 37 no 3pp 191ndash200 1986

[22] C M Hill ldquoConflict of interest between people and baboonscrop raiding in Ugandardquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 21 no 2 pp 299ndash315 2000

[23] N Priston ldquoAssessment of crop damage by Macacao chreatabrunnescens in south east Sulawesi a farmerrsquos perspectiverdquoUniversity of Cambridge Cambridge UK Part II dissertation2001

[24] L K Cawthon ldquoPrimate factsheets olive baboon (Papioanubis) taxonomy morphology amp ecologyrdquo 2006 httppinprimatewiscedufactsheetsentryolive_baboon

[25] C A Chapman L J Chapman and T R Gillespie ldquoScaleissues in the study of primate foraging red Colobus of Kibalenational parkrdquo American Journal of Physical Anthropologyvol 117 no 4 pp 349ndash363 2002

[26] G M Isabirye-Basuta and J S Lwanga ldquoPrimate populationsand their interactions with changing habitatsrdquo InternationalJournal of Primatology vol 29 no 1 pp 35ndash48 2008

[27] M Yihune A Bekele and Z Tefera ldquoHuman-gelada baboonconflict in and around the Simien mountains national parkEthiopiardquo African Journal of Ecology vol 47 no 3pp 276ndash282 2009

[28] A Whiten R W Byrne R A Barton P G Waterman andS Henzi Dietary and Foraging Strategies of Baboonspp 187ndash197 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal SocietyLondon UK 1991

[29] D W Yalden M J Largen and D Kock ldquoCatalogue of themammals of Ethiopiardquo Monitore Zoologico Italiano Supple-mento vol 8 no 1 pp 1ndash118 1976

[30] T Dereje J F Peter B Afework M Addisu and A AnagawldquoEcological flexibility in Boutourlinirsquos blue monkeys (Cerco-pithecus mitis boutourlinii) in Jibat forest Ethiopia a com-parison of habitat use ranging behavior and diet intact andfragmented forestrdquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 34 pp 615ndash640 2013

[31] T Butynski and S Gippoliti ldquoCercopithecus mitis boutourliniissp IUCN red list of threatened speciesrdquo 2017 httpwwwiucnredlistorg

[32] T M Butynski ldquoComparative ecology of blue monkeys(Cercopithecus mitis) in high- and low-density subpopula-tionsrdquo Ecological Monographs vol 60 no 1 pp 1ndash26 1990

)e Scientific World Journal 7

In many areas this monkey frequents human settlements andfeeds extensively on cultivated plants )e species has beenrecorded near sea level and extends to an altitude of at least3000m [29] In line with [29] in this study the species wasobserved mostly in riverine forest habitat )is association ofChlorocebus aethiops (grivet monkey) with riverine forestmight be due to the availability of fruit tree species

In contrast to other primates colobus monkey was morefrequently seen on the top of trees during the day and nightand usually it cannot feed on agricultural crops )is ad-aptation might prevent the species from human andpredatorrsquos damage In some areas the species survives inrelatively small patches of remnant forest and it is in generaltolerant of the presence of man [29] )is might correlatewith the habit that colobus monkey was more frequentlyseen on the top of tree and it cannot damage and feed onagricultural crops

Lastly blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis boutourlinii)was relatively observed in more number in forest than otherhabitats in the study area According to [30] the boutourliniiblue monkey groups were inhabiting relatively undisturbedand tree-dominated forest at Jibat but venturing out intonearby bush land only occasionally to feed on some fruits)is subspecies was recently listed as vulnerable by IUCNbecause of extensive and uncontrolled destruction of theforests it occupies for both timber and agricultural pro-duction [31] )is may be because their habitat preferencesare more than those of other primates In the case of thepresent study area more count of blue monkey was done inforest than other habitat types According to [32] bluemonkeys are among Africarsquos arboreal primate species andinhabit a variety of forest types (tropical moist forests)Moreover in the current study more numbers of adult andsubadult primates were counted )is indicates that theprimate population of Welel Mountain are currently ongood status and their number will increase in the future

5 Conclusion

We identified four primate species of Welel Mountainnamely Chlorocebus aethiops Cercopithecus mitis Papioanubis and Colobus guereza )e four primate speciesidentified on Welel Mountain have different habitat pref-erences)e findings obtained from this study indicated thatthe number of individual primates counted in wet season isless than that of dry season )ese differences in distributionof primatersquos population may be due to the availability ofwater and food in different seasons )erefore water andfood availability or the combinations of both are the majorfactors determining the abundance and distribution ofprimates Since the availability of these resources differsfrom season to season as well as from habitat to habitat theabundance and diversity of the primates vary As a resultduring the wet season there is migration of primate pop-ulations from the forest woodland or shrubs to thefarmland in search of food Based on the age category morenumber of subadult primates was counted From this we canpredict that their number will increase in the future )ecurrent study showed that from the all primate species

identified in the study area Chlorocebus aethiops and Papioanubis were relatively more abundant during wet and dryseason respectively )is is due to the ability of Chlorocebusaethiops and Papio anubis to exploit different varieties offood which enables them to survive and this may in partaccount for determining their distribution Cercopithecusmitis were observed relatively in least number )is may bebecause their habitat preferences are more than those ofother primates of this area

Accordingly to keep the good status of primates in thestudy area the policymakers and wildlife managers should

(i) formulate effective wildlife management and con-servation policy

(ii) implement appropriate measures of controllingregular clearing of the plant species in the studyarea

(iii) carry out primate population censuses in the studyarea at specific time to determine their populationtrends

(iv) conduct ecological research about the feeding be-havior and diurnal activity on the species since it isessential to know the ecological relationship of thespecies with their respective environment andhabitats

Data Availability

)e data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request

Conflicts of Interest

)e authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest inany form regarding the publication of this paper

Acknowledgments

)e authors are thankful to Debre Berhan University forfinancial assistance and facilities)e authors would also liketo express their warmest appreciation to the Federal Min-istry of Education of Ethiopia for providing funds

References

[1] P J Fashing ldquoBehavior ecology and conservation of colobinemonkeys an introductionrdquo International Journal of Prima-tology vol 28 no 3 pp 507ndash511 2007

[2] C Groves ldquoOrder primatesrdquo inMammal Species of theWorldA Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 111ndash184 D Wilsonand D Reeder Eds vol 1 3rd edition 2005

[3] IUCN African Primates Status Survey and ConservationAction Plan IUCN Gland Switzerland Revised edition 1996

[4] A Colin M J Chapman and A Harriet ldquoWhat hope forAfrican primatediversityrdquo African Journal of Ecology vol 44pp 116ndash133 2006

[5] A C Hamilton and D Taylor ldquoHistory of climate and forestsin tropical Africa during the last 8 million yearsrdquo TropicalForests and Climate vol 19 pp 65ndash78 1991

[6] M J Lawes and H A C Eeley ldquoAre local patterns of an-thropoid primate diversity related to patterns of diversity at a

6 )e Scientific World Journal

larger scalerdquo Journal of Biogeography vol 27 no 6pp 1421ndash1435 2000

[7] Y Long C R Kirkpatrick T Zhongtai and L XiaolinldquoReport on the distribution population and ecology of theYunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti)rdquo Primatesvol 35 no 2 pp 241ndash250 1994

[8] T S Romdal M B Araujo and C Rahbek ldquoLife on a tropicalplanet niche conservatism and the global diversity gradientrdquoGlobal Ecology and Biogeography vol 22 no 3 pp 344ndash3502013

[9] P M Vitousek H A Mooney J Lubchenco andJ M Melillo ldquoHuman domination of Earthrsquos ecosystemsrdquoScience vol 277 no 5325 pp 494ndash499 1997

[10] C Chapman and S Russo ldquoPrimate seed dispersalrdquo in Pri-mates in Perspective C J Campbell A FuentesK MacKinnon et al Eds p 510 Oxford University PressOxford UK 2007

[11] P Grubb T M Butynski J F Oates et al ldquoAssessment of thediversity of African primatesrdquo International Journal of Pri-matology vol 24 no 6 pp 1301ndash1357 2003

[12] G Cowlishaw and R Dunbar Primate Conservation Biology)e University of Chicago Press Chicago IL USA 2000

[13] R A Mittermeier J F Oates A E Eudey and J )ornbackldquoPrimate conservation 3ndash72rdquo in Comparative Primate Biol-ogy G Mitchell and J Erwin Eds Alan R Liss Inc NewYork USA 1986

[14] R Gonfa G Tsegaye and H Tadesse ldquoDiversity abundanceand habitat association of medium and large sized mammalsof Dati Welel National park western Ethiopiardquo InternationalJournal of Biodiversity and Conservation vol 7 no 2pp 112ndash118 2015

[15] D R Anderson J L Laake B R Crain and K P BurnhamldquoGuidelines for line transect sampling of biological pop-ulationsrdquo e Journal of Wildlife Management vol 43 no 1pp 70ndash78 1979

[16] A J Plumper and V Reynolds ldquo)e impact of selectivelogging on the primate populations in the Budongo forestreserve Ugandardquo Journal of Applied Ecology vol 31pp 631ndash641 1994

[17] C Peres ldquoGeneral guidelines for standardizing line-transectsurveys of tropical forest primatesrdquo Neotropical Primatesvol 7 pp 11ndash16 1999

[18] J C Hillman Ethiopia Compendium of Wildlife ConservationInformation Vol 1 EWCO Addis Ababa Ethiopia 1993

[19] C J Krebs Ecology e Experimental Analysis of Abundanceand Distribution Harper and Row New York USA 2ndedition 1978

[20] P J Fashing N Nguyen P Luteshi W Opondo J F CashandM Cords ldquoEvaluating the suitability of planted forests forAfrican Forest Monkeys a case study from Kakamega forestKenyardquo American Journal of Primatology vol 74 no 1pp 77ndash90 2012

[21] M Balakrishinan and P Easa ldquoHabitat preference of largemammals in the parambikulam wildlife sanctuary KeralaIndiardquo Journal of Biological Conservation vol 37 no 3pp 191ndash200 1986

[22] C M Hill ldquoConflict of interest between people and baboonscrop raiding in Ugandardquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 21 no 2 pp 299ndash315 2000

[23] N Priston ldquoAssessment of crop damage by Macacao chreatabrunnescens in south east Sulawesi a farmerrsquos perspectiverdquoUniversity of Cambridge Cambridge UK Part II dissertation2001

[24] L K Cawthon ldquoPrimate factsheets olive baboon (Papioanubis) taxonomy morphology amp ecologyrdquo 2006 httppinprimatewiscedufactsheetsentryolive_baboon

[25] C A Chapman L J Chapman and T R Gillespie ldquoScaleissues in the study of primate foraging red Colobus of Kibalenational parkrdquo American Journal of Physical Anthropologyvol 117 no 4 pp 349ndash363 2002

[26] G M Isabirye-Basuta and J S Lwanga ldquoPrimate populationsand their interactions with changing habitatsrdquo InternationalJournal of Primatology vol 29 no 1 pp 35ndash48 2008

[27] M Yihune A Bekele and Z Tefera ldquoHuman-gelada baboonconflict in and around the Simien mountains national parkEthiopiardquo African Journal of Ecology vol 47 no 3pp 276ndash282 2009

[28] A Whiten R W Byrne R A Barton P G Waterman andS Henzi Dietary and Foraging Strategies of Baboonspp 187ndash197 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal SocietyLondon UK 1991

[29] D W Yalden M J Largen and D Kock ldquoCatalogue of themammals of Ethiopiardquo Monitore Zoologico Italiano Supple-mento vol 8 no 1 pp 1ndash118 1976

[30] T Dereje J F Peter B Afework M Addisu and A AnagawldquoEcological flexibility in Boutourlinirsquos blue monkeys (Cerco-pithecus mitis boutourlinii) in Jibat forest Ethiopia a com-parison of habitat use ranging behavior and diet intact andfragmented forestrdquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 34 pp 615ndash640 2013

[31] T Butynski and S Gippoliti ldquoCercopithecus mitis boutourliniissp IUCN red list of threatened speciesrdquo 2017 httpwwwiucnredlistorg

[32] T M Butynski ldquoComparative ecology of blue monkeys(Cercopithecus mitis) in high- and low-density subpopula-tionsrdquo Ecological Monographs vol 60 no 1 pp 1ndash26 1990

)e Scientific World Journal 7

larger scalerdquo Journal of Biogeography vol 27 no 6pp 1421ndash1435 2000

[7] Y Long C R Kirkpatrick T Zhongtai and L XiaolinldquoReport on the distribution population and ecology of theYunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti)rdquo Primatesvol 35 no 2 pp 241ndash250 1994

[8] T S Romdal M B Araujo and C Rahbek ldquoLife on a tropicalplanet niche conservatism and the global diversity gradientrdquoGlobal Ecology and Biogeography vol 22 no 3 pp 344ndash3502013

[9] P M Vitousek H A Mooney J Lubchenco andJ M Melillo ldquoHuman domination of Earthrsquos ecosystemsrdquoScience vol 277 no 5325 pp 494ndash499 1997

[10] C Chapman and S Russo ldquoPrimate seed dispersalrdquo in Pri-mates in Perspective C J Campbell A FuentesK MacKinnon et al Eds p 510 Oxford University PressOxford UK 2007

[11] P Grubb T M Butynski J F Oates et al ldquoAssessment of thediversity of African primatesrdquo International Journal of Pri-matology vol 24 no 6 pp 1301ndash1357 2003

[12] G Cowlishaw and R Dunbar Primate Conservation Biology)e University of Chicago Press Chicago IL USA 2000

[13] R A Mittermeier J F Oates A E Eudey and J )ornbackldquoPrimate conservation 3ndash72rdquo in Comparative Primate Biol-ogy G Mitchell and J Erwin Eds Alan R Liss Inc NewYork USA 1986

[14] R Gonfa G Tsegaye and H Tadesse ldquoDiversity abundanceand habitat association of medium and large sized mammalsof Dati Welel National park western Ethiopiardquo InternationalJournal of Biodiversity and Conservation vol 7 no 2pp 112ndash118 2015

[15] D R Anderson J L Laake B R Crain and K P BurnhamldquoGuidelines for line transect sampling of biological pop-ulationsrdquo e Journal of Wildlife Management vol 43 no 1pp 70ndash78 1979

[16] A J Plumper and V Reynolds ldquo)e impact of selectivelogging on the primate populations in the Budongo forestreserve Ugandardquo Journal of Applied Ecology vol 31pp 631ndash641 1994

[17] C Peres ldquoGeneral guidelines for standardizing line-transectsurveys of tropical forest primatesrdquo Neotropical Primatesvol 7 pp 11ndash16 1999

[18] J C Hillman Ethiopia Compendium of Wildlife ConservationInformation Vol 1 EWCO Addis Ababa Ethiopia 1993

[19] C J Krebs Ecology e Experimental Analysis of Abundanceand Distribution Harper and Row New York USA 2ndedition 1978

[20] P J Fashing N Nguyen P Luteshi W Opondo J F CashandM Cords ldquoEvaluating the suitability of planted forests forAfrican Forest Monkeys a case study from Kakamega forestKenyardquo American Journal of Primatology vol 74 no 1pp 77ndash90 2012

[21] M Balakrishinan and P Easa ldquoHabitat preference of largemammals in the parambikulam wildlife sanctuary KeralaIndiardquo Journal of Biological Conservation vol 37 no 3pp 191ndash200 1986

[22] C M Hill ldquoConflict of interest between people and baboonscrop raiding in Ugandardquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 21 no 2 pp 299ndash315 2000

[23] N Priston ldquoAssessment of crop damage by Macacao chreatabrunnescens in south east Sulawesi a farmerrsquos perspectiverdquoUniversity of Cambridge Cambridge UK Part II dissertation2001

[24] L K Cawthon ldquoPrimate factsheets olive baboon (Papioanubis) taxonomy morphology amp ecologyrdquo 2006 httppinprimatewiscedufactsheetsentryolive_baboon

[25] C A Chapman L J Chapman and T R Gillespie ldquoScaleissues in the study of primate foraging red Colobus of Kibalenational parkrdquo American Journal of Physical Anthropologyvol 117 no 4 pp 349ndash363 2002

[26] G M Isabirye-Basuta and J S Lwanga ldquoPrimate populationsand their interactions with changing habitatsrdquo InternationalJournal of Primatology vol 29 no 1 pp 35ndash48 2008

[27] M Yihune A Bekele and Z Tefera ldquoHuman-gelada baboonconflict in and around the Simien mountains national parkEthiopiardquo African Journal of Ecology vol 47 no 3pp 276ndash282 2009

[28] A Whiten R W Byrne R A Barton P G Waterman andS Henzi Dietary and Foraging Strategies of Baboonspp 187ndash197 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal SocietyLondon UK 1991

[29] D W Yalden M J Largen and D Kock ldquoCatalogue of themammals of Ethiopiardquo Monitore Zoologico Italiano Supple-mento vol 8 no 1 pp 1ndash118 1976

[30] T Dereje J F Peter B Afework M Addisu and A AnagawldquoEcological flexibility in Boutourlinirsquos blue monkeys (Cerco-pithecus mitis boutourlinii) in Jibat forest Ethiopia a com-parison of habitat use ranging behavior and diet intact andfragmented forestrdquo International Journal of Primatologyvol 34 pp 615ndash640 2013

[31] T Butynski and S Gippoliti ldquoCercopithecus mitis boutourliniissp IUCN red list of threatened speciesrdquo 2017 httpwwwiucnredlistorg

[32] T M Butynski ldquoComparative ecology of blue monkeys(Cercopithecus mitis) in high- and low-density subpopula-tionsrdquo Ecological Monographs vol 60 no 1 pp 1ndash26 1990

)e Scientific World Journal 7