Tracking Baboon Changes in Habitat Using Geospatial Analysis

Abstract

As one of the longest-running wild primate studies, the Amboseli Baboon Research Project (ABRP) has almost fifty years of data collection on yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus). Their research has mainly centered around the movement and biology of the baboons on an individual, group, and population level. In the 1980s, the baboons began moving out of the Amboseli National Park. In order to better understand why the baboons migrated out of the park, this study addresses how habitat change may affect baboon movement by correlating fluctuation in vegetation cover with altered baboon movement. This is accomplished by mapping three years of GPS tracking data on top of seasonal change in Landsat Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Our findings suggest an increase in daily movement and resting/foraging phase during the dry season. This may be due to longer travel distances to water and food sources as well as more time spent resting, eating, and drinking. This information will aid the ABRP’s understanding of habitat change in relation to the local movements of baboon social groups and may reveal baboon habitat preferences and drivers of seasonal movements.