Allies - Vervet and Samango Monkeys

Not wanting to disturb the samango and vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus albogularis labiatus and Chlorocebus pygerythrus pygerythrus) crossing the paddock to reach the Forest Fig (Ficus craterostoma), we sat over fifty metres away with our cameras.  

Unable to get clear photographs from such a distance, I slowly moved closer, set up the tripod and looked through the viewfinder. 

Almost instantly an adult male vervet perched in the highest tree began to warn the others convincing me to move back again. When observing this troop initially, their behaviour suggested they had seen the darker side of humans, causing them to be particularly fearful. This factor makes it difficult to get close enough for great photos.  A man herded two horses and two donkeys into the paddock which was now completely devoid of any monkey presence.

We waited.

They returned.

Both vervets and samangos headed across the open paddock towards the fig tree. 

The vervet monkey inhabits savanna, riverine woodland, coastal forest mountains and is often seen on the edge of indigenous forest where their range my overlap with the range of samango monkeys. Although the Samango monkey is often described as South Africa's only primate “found exclusively in forests”, sightings of them foraging on the ground are not rare.

The samango troop and vervet troop pictured here are often seen in close proximity to each other at our study site which is made up of both indigenous forest and agricultural land.

The vervet monkey has a multi-male social system in comparison to the samango monkey’s one male social system hence one reason for the two troops foraging together seems to be  that the multi-male vervet troop brings added protection to the samango troop which consists of adult females, one male and their youngsters.

 Our findings echo those observed in the blue monkey. 

The blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) that is found in Central and East Africa, ranging from the upper Congo River basin east to the East African Rift and south to northern Angola and Zambia are known to form alliances with other species which last for several hours at a time (Rudran, 1978). These associations allow the group to form coalitions against other groups, locate food sources and provides protection against predators. These alliances also the monkeys to cover large areas while foraging (source: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Cercopithecus_mitis/). 

  Update: Video footage of vervets  and samangos interacting can be viewed below:

Above: An adult male vervet monkey keep a look out while samangos feed. August, 2019. 

More can be viewed on the relationship between the two species at the following links:

https://samangomonkey.wordpress.com/2018/06/25/samangos-vervets-and-bushbuck-interspecies-relationships/

https://samangomonkey.wordpress.com/2017/11/22/friends-in-high-places-the-vervet-samango-relationship/