IVP Newsletter

January 2023
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still~ Chinese Proverb

Issue 12| 31.01.2023

By: Veronicca Khosana | Edited: Tamsyn Henshall

Team making sure 2023 is off to a bright start! © Michael

 THIS MONTHS
TOP STORIES

Dispersal of monkeys and tracking

At this point Jonas has covered the whole of Mawana looking and searching for dispersed
collared males that were last seen in the last few months. So far he has managed to track a
few in adjacent troops although is still struggling to locate Vesuvio from Crossing and
Heelal of Baie Dankie who were last seen in their troops in November. Almost every day he
has been out in the field at times even more than 12 hours searching and trying to locate
his males. Jonas’ latest reportings from the field:

Propiano (CR): left Crossing on 11/12/22,

went to the extremities of Mawana and
then came back on the 20/12/22. He stayed
until 24/12/22, then left again and went
outside the reserve for about 5 km, before
coming back to Crossing on the 28/12/22.

Vesuvio (CR): has dispersed around mid-

December but his whereabouts are still
unknown.

Heelal (BD): Has dispersed around the

24/01/23 and has still not been found.

Pomelo (BD): left Baie Dankie on the

10/12/22. He went outside the reserve and
his location was picked up on a mountain
14km away. He ended up coming back to
the reserve on 20/01/23 and he has been
around Glykoppie for the past 12 days, so
he has probably joined an unhabituated
group that stays around Glykoppie.

Fluister (BD): Has dispersed on the

17/01/23 and has been found outside the
reserve, but has gone further and we are
not sure where he is now.
Visit all the way from Switzerland
Our very own Director Erica visited us at the end of the month and got the year started
on a wonderful and positive note. She has been going out with our researchers every day
since she arrived and was excited to meet the new team members and see the monkeys in
the field. She was accompanied by Tecla, who came to visit her South African home –
Khayalami - and also to have her first in-person meeting with one of her supervisors, Prof
Robert Seyfarth. He visited from the United States, first to visit his previous baboons field
site in Botswana and enjoyed a detour in South Africa during his African trip to end up at
Khayalami & in Simbithi. He came to see all the work of the IVP & UVP families and we all
had great discussions around this well-known humble professor.

Robert Seyfarth giving a talk on vervet monkeys in Simbithi © Tecla

Team Updates
The team is sad to announce the departure of the final field assistant of the previous field
manager Mike. We bid Maria Costa farewell. Her visa permitted her to stay longer than
most of our students and assistants, so she has been with IVP for almost a year! She arrived
in South Africa in February of last year and left in the middle of this month. Thank you for
spreading happiness and putting smiles on people's faces with your music, dance, and
charming personality. Many, including those that left before you, continue dancing the way
you taught them, and we thank you for all your hard work. You demonstrated enthusiasm
and commitment in your job. Yes, you will be missed, Maria!

However, new faces continue to arrive and join our team. This month we welcome Sarah
Lante (from Nimes, France) who will be working with Ankhase and Kubu. The team is
delighted to have you on board, to learn from you as we will also be teaching you and
mostly to watch you grow with Khayalami for the next 8 months of your stay. Welcome
home Sarah!

This month, we spent a Saturday night in the bush, which gave Nora and Marisa, two of
our ladies, the opportunity to complete their bush tests. The good news is that Marisa was
able to pass her test but unfortunately, Nora was unable to finish her quest. But she is
excited to soon repeat her bush test alongside Marta. Congratulations, Marisa, on
achieving the goal of being able to move about safely in the bush and not just on the main
road. We cannot wait for Nora’s retake and Marta’s test. We are rooting for you guys !

Speaking of independence,
Michelle (Noha and Ankhase), Zonke
(I-family and Baie Dankie), Jeremy
(Ankhase and Baie Dankie) and
Veronicca (Noha and Crossing) all
passed their scan InterObs that will
allow them to collect all the required
data independently. Congratulations
everyone!!!

Monkey News
This month the team has been experiencing a small hiccup with the field equipment not
properly functioning. The team has been working extra hard to try to trace the patterns of
these troops as observed from the times they have been working with them, but we do
suspect that the signal issue may be primarily due to how dense the reserve has become
these few months. This may be causing the blockage of signal as most of the equipment
works when we are close to the troops rather than when we are very far from the troops.
Other days it has been hard, with at times the day ending with still no sign of the troops
but other days the team is successful in tracking them and finding them in their resting
spots during the day.
Speaking of tracking the troops, it seems that most of our males have been attempting to
disperse to other troops and new males are attempting to join the troops that we already
follow.

Fluister may have risen up the ranks in Baie Dankie last month, but it appears the big guy
may have to use his fighting skills to join a new troop since he is one among the guys that
may have split off from the troop. Heelal's dispersal is also confirmed, as the last time he
was spotted was in November, along with Pomelo. Umbrella also went missing for a few
weeks, but he turned up earlier this week. Perhaps our large man hasn't found the troop he
likes and feels at home with the troop that range in the High Forest, Porcupine Acacia and
Alps, moving a bit more than they initially were at the beginning of this month. This troop
still encounters Lemon Tree a lot in Porcupine Acacia and Porcupine Dam. Their
encounters have been mainly aggressive but some affiliations were also observed with
curiosity of both troops towards each other.

An interesting behaviour has been observed in the past week in Baie Dankie. Lancaster
(1971), Andelman (1987), and Hauser (1986) came to the conclusion that male vervet monkeys
rarely interact with or look after young, but adult male Kommunis helped an infant who
was being attacked by a dominant juvenile. He picked up the infant and carried it ventrally
for a short period before dropping it to the ground. The observers were delighted to have
captured and seen such a moment while also being shocked and amazed by the sight.

Ankhase - Last month we reported that there were no babies in Ankhase, however the
wheel has turned around and the troop reported 3 live babies from Ncoko, Ghida and
Ndonsa, with one presumed dead baby from Ndawonya. Sadly, it seems Ndawonya has has
gone through the same experience as Granada in Noha who abandoned her live baby and
that was the last time the baby was seen. Gilane has been noted to be quite curious about
other groups during group interactions, which may raise the question of whether or not he
is prepared to disperse to a new troop as well. Since Baie Dankie no longer frequently visit
the dam, the troop continues to spend the most of its time in the First and Second Dams.
Our researchers are unsure of the current state of dominance in Ankhase since Bukubuku,
who has held the alpha position since last year could be surrendering it to Vladimir or
Shongololo, both of whom appear to have a good chance of claiming dominance.

Good news from Crossing: the one-year-olds that the team has been unable to identify for
a few months because we couldn't see them most of the time have started emerging from
trees and head-bobbing at the researchers. This has given us the chance to identify them
with the assistance of previous researchers who worked on Crossing. As a result, Kodiak's
baby, whose sex we haven't known since 2011, has also been finally sexed, and we are happy
to announce that he is a beautiful boy, name soon to be confirmed. The troop hasn't
changed their route significantly and is still in the Dry River, White Tree, and Fallen Tree
area, but they are gradually attempting to reach sleep 2 via Borneo. A total of five babies
(Mackenzie’s, Bali’s, Goose’s, Galapagos’, and possibly Nihau’s) were added to the troop
although it is very hard to estimate how many there are currently because the infants are
becoming independent and are not always with their moms.

It was previously known that the I-family included 4 juvenile members, but the I-family
researchers have now observed a fifth juvenile member. Everytime an intergroup conflict
arises, Circus and Freya still appear to be fighting tooth and nail to defend their home and
group. On the other side, despite his wounds, Zeus is still active and drives Noha away
whenever they enter I-family territory. The most startling moment to observe is when a
troop of 47 individuals flees from a group of 13 active members of I-family!

Lemon Tree - The team has had trouble getting to the troop because of the recent intense
rainfall, which has caused the dam to flood and make it difficult for the team to pass over to
the troop. We can only hope that February will be better and bring us additional
information on the lemon tree.

Noha has been spending a lot of time between the village road
and Eden Dam, however occasionally on rainy days they
appear to prefer the opposite side's jungle and jacaranda
trees. Although they appear to be on a medium encounter
frequency with the troop that may be sleeping in the
jacaranda, we have only observed infrequent contacts with
any of the previously followed troops. This occurs most
frequently when the troop chooses to sleep near a power line
donga or power line clump.

Little Bet's injury has been noted since last year in late
October/early November, and it appeared to be improving as
the large bump seemed to be decreasing and the wound was
becoming dry. However, this past week, the wound became
wet again with faeces still oozing out, and he was less active
than the other young members of the troop. He also appeared
to be scratching the wound and feeding frequently, but
despite this, he appeared to be losing weight. All in all, 3
months down the line, the little guy is still with the troop!

New male Dakar seems to be adjusting well to the group, though he is still frequently
aggressed by the mothers of the infants and Vulkaan. He appears to be getting along well
with our Noha researchers because we were able to focal him twice this month and he
occasionally napped on a tree above our researchers (although high up in the tree). In
contrast, Knysna is still uneasy around our researchers and continues to flee whenever he
gets the chance. As we continue to record injuries, mostly new ones in the following days,
there are very few conflicts in the group while we are there. Of all the females in the troops
who aren't pregnant, Regina remains the most devoted caregiver, spending the majority of
practically every day holding baby Griselles and, occasionally, Rioja's baby if Rioja allows.
Kubu - The troop again seems to be spending time mostly on this side of the river and not
crossing as of yet. Mara has sadly disappeared and has not been seen since ____. Another
disappearance that has (contrary to Mara) been anticipated by many volunteers for a very
long time is that of Aarhus! Aarhus left Kubu during the past week for few days but his
satellite collar data could still be downloaded so it seems he did not go very far. His collar
data was picked up around Glykoppie which leads us to believe he might be attempting to
join the Glykoppie troop. The babies are also thriving, and the majority of them are already
becoming independent, playing with the troop's younger members, and occasionally being
observed making attempts to consume solid food—most often fresh shoots and leaves.

Monkey of the month

Lemon tree’s Doreen!

The monkey of the month for January is Doreen, a 6 year old female from Lemon tree
troop. Doreen shows incredible leadership skills, always checking the safety of others on
the frontline during encounters and during any crossing of some sort.

©Marta