Ongoing research

 

Following a pilot visit by Alex Georgiev in 2017, we began systematic data collection at Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park in July 2018.

 

We study multiple groups across this landscape to examine how anthropogenic change (e.g., habitat disturbance, loss, and fragmentation), as well as natural variation in habitat quality affect colobus behaviour, ecology, physiology and reproductive function.

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Behavioural data collection and physiological sampling in 2018-19 focused on six groups ranging at the edge of the national park, where agriculture replaces the forest. Following pilot work by PhD researcher Zoe Melvin in 2019, we are now expanding the study to incorporate 5 additional groups that live in the interior of the forest.

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Research themes

Our work currently focuses on three main areas of investigation: 

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(1) Reproductive ecology & physiology

(2) Anthropogenic impacts and primate resilience

(3) Developmental trajectories in social behaviour.
 

We have also began accumulating long-term data on the demography, life-history, and intergroup interactions, which will inform current and future studies of the behavioural ecology and conservation of the Zanzibar red colobus.

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