Grooming and consort partner selection in a troop of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata)

Abstract

The Arashiyama West troop of Macaca fuscata consists of 150 monkeys transported from Kyoto, Japan, in February 1972 to their present location near Laredo, Texas. At this site the animals range over 108 acres and during the study period were only minimally provisioned and disturbed. In the report of a 3-year study of consort partner selection it was suggested that yearlong social bonds within the troop appeared to be distinct from consort bonds formed during mating season. Like Sade, we consider grooming to be a good measure of yearround affinitive bonding in macaques. This study compares the pairs formed for consorting with those formed for yearlong grooming activities, by the 94 individuals who formed consort relationships during the mating season of 1973--1974. It was found that yearlong grooming involved pairs of monkeys which were significantly different from those for consorting. Grooming was relatively frequent between related monkeys, while consort partners were seldom related. In addition, yearlong grooming patterns were not disrupted during mating season. These results suggest that consort and grooming activities are behavioral expressions of two important social networks, involving mutually exclusive social bonds.