Conflicts Between Humans and Endangered Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus) at the Edge of an Agricultural Landscape in Morocco

Abstract

The expansion of shared spaces between humans and wildlife, particularly resulting from agricultural encroachment on natural habitats, leads to increasing interactions between humans and non-human primates (hereafter “primates”). We explored how crop-foraging Barbary macaques adapt their behavior to anthropogenic disturbances and identified deterrents implemented by farmers and their effectiveness. We observed three groups of crop-foraging Barbary macaques in Aïn Leuh, Morocco, in 2021–2022. We estimated their activity budgets from 7185 scan records and tested whether they were influenced by habitat (forest, fruit orchard, and cereal field). Additionally, we examined the impact of time of day, month, and age-sex class (adult female, adult male, immature) on macaque presence in cultivated areas. We also analyzed macaque responses to encounters with humans and dogs. Macaques primarily focused on feeding in cultivated areas while allocating more time to resting and socializing in forested areas. They used cultivated areas extensively during periods of human activity. Cereal fields, but not orchards, were predominantly visited by adult females rather than males or immatures. Macaques experienced 0.34 to 0.67 anthropogenic encounters per hour, with variation across months, and high rates of aggression from humans and dogs. Preemptive deterrence measures, such as using slingshots before macaques entered the crops, were more effective than confrontations inside the cultivated areas. While crop-guarding with slingshots was effective, it poses risks to the macaques. This study highlights the high risk of crop-foraging for Endangered Barbary macaques and the need to develop safer and more sustainable crop-guarding strategies to mitigate conflicts and promote human-Barbary macaque cohabitation.