Primate species show variable and multiple responses to environmental disturbances. Such studies can help to inform land use planning aimed at balancing species conservation and development at a local scale in human-dominated environments. However, species persistence across landscapes can be scale dependent (Sawyer and Brashares 2013), and a finer-scale approach is required for understanding the effects of anthropogenic influences and disturbances on primate habitat use and behavioral flexibility (Bortolamiol et al. These broad-scale studies have yielded important insights into the factors that influence the spatial distribution of a species on a national or regional scale. Recent studies have revealed that many primates prefer areas with lower disturbance levels. Their long-term survival critically depends on their ability to adapt to these human-dominated environments (Isabirye-Basuta and Lwanga 2008), as well as people’s tolerance of and behavior toward primates within these landscapes (Hill and Webber 2010). Primates inhabiting these landscapes face multiple challenges including habitat degradation and fragmentation, human infrastructures such as roads or settlements, and increased encounters with people (Hockings et al. The continued degradation of forested areas, together with ongoing human population growth across most primate range countries, means that many primate populations now occur in forest–agricultural mosaics (Estrada 2013). Habitat loss due to deforestation and land conversion are major causes of the decline of nonhuman primate (hereafter primate) species (Chapman and Peres 2001 Estrada 2013). Such information is critical for the establishment of effective land use management strategies in anthropogenic landscapes. Our study reveals chimpanzee reliance on different habitat types and the influence of human-induced pressures on their activities. Nevertheless, the chimpanzees did not actively avoid foraging close to roads and paths. They showed a significant preference for foraging at >200 m from cultivated fields compared to 0–100 m and 101–200 m, with no effect of habitat type or season, suggesting an influence of associated risk. Overall, chimpanzees preferred mature forest for all activities. Wild fruit and crop availability influenced seasonal habitat use for foraging. Chimpanzees preferentially used forest habitat types for traveling and resting and highly disturbed habitat types for socializing. We conducted 6-h morning or afternoon follows daily from April 2012 to March 2013. In this study, we aimed to examine their activity budget across habitat types and the influence of anthropogenic risks associated with cultivated fields, roads, and paths on their foraging behavior in noncultivated habitat. Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus) in Bossou, Guinea, West Africa, face such risks regularly. When crossing roads, primates also face the risk of encounters with people and collision with vehicles. Primates in forest–agricultural mosaics often consume cultivars to supplement their diet, leading to potentially negative encounters with farmers. Understanding their long-term ability to persist in such environments and associated real and perceived risks for both primates and people is essential for effective conservation planning. Many primate populations inhabit anthropogenic landscapes.
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