SANParks.org Forums

@ Elsa: He was actually very aggresive, I told him to shoo with my hand & he almost bit it off But my dad is vicious & scared him off

@ Olifants Camp

On the H4-1


On the S36

Mother & Child

Hey,
where was that one Gwendolen?

In Olifants Rest Camp, WAC.

Here's the same monkey.

Vervet Monkey
(Cercopithecus pygerythrus)

Ger: Sudafrikanische Grune Meerkatze.
Fre: Vervet.
Afr: Blouaap.
Xho, Zul: Inkawu.

Mass: 3,5-9 kg.
Head & body length: 38-65 cm.
Tail length: 48-75 cm.
ID Pointers:
- Grizzled silver-grey to yellowish-reddish-green coarse hair.
- White underparts.
- Black face, pink eyelids.
- Infants have pink faces.
- Males have a distinct blue scrotum.
Life-span: +/- 15-20 yrs.
Predators:
1. Leopard.
2. Lion.
3. Brown Hyaena.
4. Cheetah.
5. Jackals.
6. Serval.
7. Eagles.
8. Pythons.
9. Crocodile.
10. Baboon.
Scent glands: Chest.
Senses: Very good.

DISTRIBUTION IN KNP:
Common & widespread.

BEHAVIOUR:
Diurnal. Sleep in trees at night. Good swimmers. Troops consist of up to 20 or more members & consist of a dominant male, subordinate males, females & young. Troops are territorial, ranges are from 0,1-1 km2. Females always stay with their troops, while males move from troop to troop. Enjoy grooming themselves & other troop members. Often associate themselves with samango monkey troops.
Calls: Chirps, grunts, chatters, barks, low loud barks, screams. Over 35 vocalisations have been recorded, including:
- Leopard - Short tonal call
- Eagle - Low staccato grunt
- Snakes - High-pitched chatter

REPRODUCTION:
A single infant of 300-400 g is born after a gestation of 5 months. Breed all year.

FOOD:
Fruit, leaves, seeds, roots, flowers, insects, birds, small reptiles & eggs. Water dependant.

HABITAT:
Woodlands, woodland savanna, forest grasslands, grasslands & riverine areas.

Sources:
- Field Guide to the mammals of the Kruger National Park by Heike Schutze.
- Field Guide to the larger mammals of Africa by Chris & Tilde Stuart.

Found in the following SANParks:
- Addo Elephant National Park.
- Cambedoo National Park.
- Karoo National Park.
- Kgaligadi Transfronteir Park.
- Knysna National Park.
- Kruger National Park.
- Mapungubwe National Park.
- Marakele National Park.
- Mountain Zebra National Park.
- Richtersveld National Park.
- Tsitsikamma National Park.
- Wilderness National Park.

wow, hasn`t been a post here for ages...

poor vervets


so here we go:

KNP 2007...

Some photo's I can share:

I witnessed a simalar situation with a baboon mother last year on the LS/Skukuza road. She was carrying around a baby which had clearly been dead for at least 3-4 days. The baby had lost all its hair and had turned almost white. Was also heart renching to watch her carry it around after the troop.

I have just watched a programme on TV about baboons ( and I think this can apply to vervets equally).

Apparently quite often the alpha female will take the babies of the females much lower down the pecking order. The lower female will not resist the alpha when she does this.
The alpha cannot feed them as they have no milk to nurse them with, and then discard them when they die, usually of dehydration, whereupon the mum will recover the little body and mourn it.

Also that the males will grab babies when they themselves are under threat from alpha males or males that are threatening their status.
They use the babies as a human shield and quite often the babies get killed in the tussles.
For instance quite a lot of fights happen up trees and the babies get dropped or lose their grip.
Again mum will recover the body.