Study on intergroup transfer of male Japanese monkeys using ALGOS system

本研究的目的是探索已经离开出生群体的年轻成年日本雄猴的生活史。我们使用无线电遥测系统（ALGOS系统）记录了仍然是这个出生群体成员的外围男性的运动模式。数据收集于日本冈山县胜山市的一群自由放养的日本猕猴（Macaca fuscata）。自1958年以来一直提供这一组，并且所有个人的母系关系和正确年龄都是已知的。利用ALGOS系统进行了大量的研究，以确定各种哺乳动物的栖息地和候鸟的飞行路线。然而，很少有研究针对森林生活物种的这些问题。本研究历时4年，探索遥测系统是否适用于日本猴子。在研制出性能良好的变送器并探索了将其附着在猴子身上的方法后，我们反复改进了该系统。我们的严格检查证实，发射器所连接的猴子的位置几乎可以正确估计。在研究期间，从主群中出现了由若干外围雄虫、成年雌虫和幼虫组成的分支群，但没有发生群体分裂。此外，关于Katsuyama组的年轻成年雄性和估计已经离开其他组的成年雄性的移动模式的数据表明，在整个研究期间，几乎没有发生过Katsuyama组的男性离开和其他组的男性移民到这个组。因此，在本研究中很难确定男性移民的过程或外围男性的移动模式。然而，我们能够得到的证据表明，ALGOS系统完全适用于森林生物物种运动模式的实证研究。

The purpose of this study was to explore the life history of young adult Japanese male monkeys who have already leaved the natal group. We recorded movement patterns of peripheral males who were still members of this natal group, using radio-telemetry system (ALGOS system). Data was collected for a free-ranging group of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) at Katsuyama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. This group has been provisioned since 1958, and the maternal genealogical relationships and the correct ages of all individuals are known.Numerous studies with ALGOS system have been conducted to identify the habitats in various mammal species and the flyways of migratory birds. However, there have been few studies addressing these issues for forest-living species. In this study, whether the telemetry system was applicable to Japanese monkeys was explored over four years. After developing a transmitter of good performance and exploring a way to attach it to monkeys, we improved the system repeatedly. Our critical examination confirmed that the location of the monkeys to whom the transmitter was attached could be nearly correctly estimated.During the study period, a branch group consisting of several peripheral males, adult females, and juveniles emerged from the main group, but group fission did not occur. In addition, data on the movement patterns of young adult males from the Katsuyama group and full adult males who were estimated to have left the other groups indicated that male-leaving from the Katsuyama group and male immigration to this group from the other groups have hardly occurred throughout the study period. Hence, it was hard to determine the process of a male immigration or the movement patterns of peripheral males in this study. However, we were able to get the evidence that ALGOS system was fully applicable to empirical researches on movement patterns of forest-living species.