Fostering of a wild, injured, juvenile by a neighbouring group: implications for rehabilitation and release of Barbary macaques confiscated from illegal trade.

Illegal live trade is one of the greatest threats to endangered Barbary macaques. Since trade focuses on young and Barbary macaques show extensive alloparental care, rehabilitation and release into wild foster groups is a promising strategy to free space in sanctuaries to allow continued confiscations, improve individual welfare, minimize captive care costs, and reinforce wild populations. However, little documentation exists on Barbary macaque releases and the age at which released macaques would be accepted by foster groups is unknown.

Correction to: 'Behavioural thermoregulation via microhabitat selection of winter sleeping areas in an endangered primate: implications for habitat conservation'.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181113.

Behavioural thermoregulation via microhabitat selection of winter sleeping areas in an endangered primate: implications for habitat conservation.

Strategic microhabitat selection allows animals in seasonally cold environments to reduce homeostatic energy costs, particularly overnight when thermoregulatory demands are greatest. Suitable sleeping areas may therefore represent important resources for winter survival. Knowledge of microhabitat use and potential impacts of anthropogenic habitat modification can aid species conservation through development of targeted habitat management plans.

Social thermoregulation as a potential mechanism linking sociality and fitness: Barbary macaques with more social partners form larger huddles.

Individuals with more or stronger social bonds experience enhanced survival and reproduction in various species, though the mechanisms mediating these effects are unclear. Social thermoregulation is a common behaviour across many species which reduces cold stress exposure, body heat loss, and homeostatic energy costs, allowing greater energetic investment in growth, reproduction, and survival, with larger aggregations providing greater benefits. If more social individuals form larger thermoregulation aggregations due to having more potential partners, this would provide a direct link between sociality and fitness.

Behavioral responses to injury and death in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).

The wounding or death of a conspecific has been shown to elicit varied behavioral responses throughout thanatology. Recently, a number of reports have presented contentious evidence of epimeletic behavior towards the dying and dead among non-human animals, a behavioral trait previously considered uniquely human. Here, we report on the behavioral responses of Barbary macaques, a social, non-human primate, to the deaths of four group members (one high-ranking adult female, one high-ranking adult male, one juvenile male, and one female infant), all caused by road traffic accidents.