| From October-December 2013, we conducted a study of the newly discovered primate species lesula, Cercopithecus lomamiensis , in the DR Congo. We placed 41 camera traps inside a 4 km 2 grid outside the proposed Lomami National Park (LNP). We compared an analysis of 140 lesula events over 1,683 camera trap days from the heavily hunted Okulu area to a pilot study (38 events over 462 camera trap days) at the Losekola study site within the LNP. Our data show an unexpected result: capture probability of lesula (0.08) is the same at both the hunted and non-hunted sites. This is in contrast to the sharp decline in capture probability of all other medium-to-large terrestrial mammals at the Okulu site. These findings suggest lesula's cryptic behavior is an important adaptation buffering the species from the impacts of hunting. This study also expands knowledge on minimum group size, terrestriality, diet, and times of activity. |
