Vigilance Behavior Of Free-ranging Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys(Rhinopithecus Roxellana) In Shennongjia National Park,China

Vigilance behavior has been shown to serve the function of monitoring predators and conspecifics,and is an indicator of the impact of various disturbances on survival and reproductive.Golden snub-nosed monkeys(Rhinopithecus roxellana)are rare and endangered species endemic to China,and they have the characteristic of a special multilevel social,which is of great conservation significance and scientific research value.Although there are few large predators that directly threaten the lives of adult individual are rare,they are also under pressure from human disturbances due to habitat fragmentation and ecotourism development,making them ideal subjects for studying vigilance behavior.To investigate the relative significance of anti-predation vigilance and social monitoring in golden snub-nosed monkeys and to explain the mechanisms by which vigilance occurs,the study used continuous focal sampling to record the vigilance behavior of 30 adult individuals(6 males and 24 females)from a free-ranging group at Dalongtan,Shennongjia,Hubei Province for 9 months.In this study,we recorded several variables that may affect the vigilance behavior of individuals,including sex,size of social unit,distance from social members,habitat type,activity status,and presence of newborn monkeys(for females only),and the percentage of vigilance duration was used as a measure of individual vigilance level.Linear mixed-effects model was used to fit variables for explaining vigilance function.The results showed that(1)the vigilance behavior of golden snub-nosed monkeys was influenced by sex,habitat type,size of social unit,distance from social members,and the presence or absence of infants(for females only),but not by activity status.Females increased their vigilance level when traversing open habitats,away from their own social members,with newborn monkeys and in smaller social units;males spent more time on vigilance than females and males also increased their vigilance when away from their own social members,unlike females,who were more vigilant in larger social units.(2)Statistics on the frequency of vigilance types in golden snub-nosed monkeys revealed that the frequency of anti-predation vigilance was higher than social monitoring in all individuals,but the frequency of social monitoring was higher in males than in female.(3)Statistics on the subjects of male social monitoring found that they intensively monitor competing males and females within their own social unit.(4)Statistics on the activity time budget of golden snub-nosed monkeys showed that females had more foraging and grooming time than males.Taken together,we can conclude that female vigilance behavior is more influenced by predation risk(human interference),reflects the anti-predatory function of vigilance,and has a protective effect on infants,supporting the infant protection hypothesis.In contrast,the high vigilance behavior of males is driven by social monitoring(reproductive competition)and supports the mate defense and male investment hypotheses.In conclusion,the different vigilance strategies between males and females in golden snub-nosed monkeys each reflect adaptive values for ecology.