Patterns of Range Use by the Green Monkey, Cercopithecus sabaeus, at Mt. Assirik, Senegal

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Abstract
Details of range use by one of Africa’s most common super-species of primate, Cercopithecus aethiops, are little publicised. This paper reports on the environmental and social influences on ranging behaviour in a single group of green monkeys, C. sabaeus, studied for 15 months in the Pare National du Niokolo-Koba, Senegal, West Africa. Various ranging parameters were measured, including daily travel distances, speeds of movement, monthly range sizes, and differential patterns of range use in both space and time. Range use is shown to have been determined by the availability and distribution of important species of fruit and flowers, water in the late dry season, habitat structure, sleeping sites, and by the presence of neighbouring groups competing for limited resources.