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Primates (2009) 50:277281 DOI 10.1007/s10329-009-0142-5
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Two cases of motherinfant cannibalism in orangutans
David Fenwick Dellatore Corri D. Waitt Ivona Foitova
Received: 9 February 2009 / Accepted: 28 February 2009 / Published online: 26 March 2009 Japan Monkey Centre and Springer 2009
Abstract Observations of ape cannibalism have to this point been limited to chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) where it is associated with infanticide and consumption by unrelated individuals (Watts and Mitani, Primates 41(4):357 365, 2000). Here we report for the rst time observations of two unrelated female Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) cannibalizing the remains of their infants on different occasion, a behavior never before reported in any ape species. The two orangutans were wild-born rehabilitated individuals, and had been reintroduced to an area hosting a largely unregulated primate tourism industry and experienced restricted ranging conditions. Though it is possible that this is a strategy to regain energy and nutrients or a result of individual history, comparative data suggest that this is an aberrant behavior which may be linked to environmental stressors within the area.
Keywords Cannibalism Orangutan Reintroduction
Stress Primate tourism
Introduction
Cannibalism is a rare event in primates, with observed cases documented in only a few species, including: chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) (Palombit et al. 2000), common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) (Bezerra et al. 2007), snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) (Xiang and Grueter 2007), blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni) (Fairgrieve 1995), and thick-tailed bushbabies (Galago crassicaudatus umbrosus) (Tartabini 1991). Of the great apes, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) alone had thus far been observed engaging in cannibalism (Bygott 1972; Watts and Mitani 2000), with cannibalism inferred in gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) through infant remains found in the feces of two unrelated individuals (Fossey 1976, cited in Goodall 1977). Motherinfant, or lial, cannibalism is more common in both nonprimate species and primate species living under stressful laboratory conditions, such as galagoes (Rohwer 1978; Tartabini 1991).
Methods
Field studies took place within Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. The site, Bukit Lawang (0332.7700N, 09807.0000E), hosted a rehabilitation project from 1972 to 2001, until alternative facilities were developed in Sumatra. Throughout the time the rehabilitation project was running, Bukit Lawang was and still remains host to a wildlife tourism industry centered on the orangutans. Although it is forbidden to touch,...