How Brilliant Monkeys Escape Predators By Using Field Scientists As Human Shields

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The relationship between scientists and the animals they study in the field is a constantly evolving one -- one that can often cross the boundary between passive observer and integrated player. Jane Goodall’s work with chimpanzees comes to mind first -- as the first researcher to give her subjects affectionate names, she introduced some element of humanity and empathy into her science.

So it comes as no surprise that things can go the other way. A recent study published in Behavioral Ecology found just that -- a group of samango monkeys who figured out how to use humans for their advantage, themselves crossing the research-subject barrier.

For the study, researchers from Durham University in the UK trekked out to the Soutpansberg Mountains of South Africa, where they set up their study site. Placing feeding buckets filled with peanuts at various heights in trees, the researchers measured how much food the animals took. Naturally, they took less food from the lower buckets, because the risk was higher of ground predators like leopards.

But the scientists noted that when they were nearby to the study site, something curious happened. The monkeys, who have seen field researchers in their habitat before, would take a larger portion of food, including food from the lower levels, closer to the ground.

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https://www.thedodo.com/how-brilliant-monkeys-escape-p-638468812.html