Estimating Abundance of Crop-Foraging Primates in Anthropogenic Landscapes Using Camera Traps.

As human populations grow, competition with wildlife increases, driving more frequent and intense negative interactions between humans and wildlife, of which crop foraging by primates like baboons (Papio spp.) is a notable example. Farmers struggle to coexist with baboons, and are particularly concerned by their abundance, with more baboons resulting in more damage. Despite extensive primate research, there are few population estimates, particularly for chacma baboons (Papio ursinus). Estimating baboon densities could inform conservation policies, including strategies to mitigate crop losses and negative human-baboon interactions. Conventional techniques for estimating density are impractical for baboons in commercial farmland or have been unsuccessful in the past, but camera trapping could provide an alternative. Through field tests of the distance sampling with camera traps (CTDS) and the random encounter model (REM) methods, we compare estimates of chacma baboon densities, assessing the potential of these methods for monitoring species that move in large and stable social groups. Chacma baboon density was 1-3 individuals/km