Abstract

Daily activity, feeding ecology and habitat association of Gelada baboon around Debre-Libanos was investigated using direct field observations from August 2012 to March 2013. Instantaneous scan sampling method was used to collect behavioral data from two selected study groups of gelada baboons on an average of 7 days per month. The focal groups were identified by the natural marking, size, coat color and facial features of some distinctive members of each of these groups. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and responses were compared using Chi-square tests. On average, Gelada baboons spent more time on feeding (56.12%) than any other activity. They spent 16.76% of their time moving, 16.05% socializing, and 9.42% resting. Other activities such as vocalization, defecation and looking at the observer occurred infrequently (1.66%). They depended fully on grass during the wet season (82.1%), but during the dry season, they fed on roots (21.35%) and leaves (20.04%) in larger proportion. There was significant variation among the activity time budget of gelada baboons in the whole study period (χ²=46.779, df=4, p<0.05).  The vegetation type utilization and distribution of Gelada baboon of the study area indicated a marked preference for open cliffy grassland habitat. The overall gelada baboon’s habitat utilization showed statistical difference in the study area (χ²=742.660, df=2, p<0.05).

Key words: Foraging, Gelada baboon, habitat association, daily activity.