抄録
Learning how to select foods is a critical survival task for young non-human primates. I have showed that weaned Japanese macaques under 1 year old displayed high interest in rare foods sampled by elders whereas older did not. To confirm this observation, I have observed ten mother-youngster pairs of free-ranging Japanese macaques from their first month of life to their eleventh in the previous studied groups. I systematically investigated this intensive observation directed by the youngsters towards elders by recording the target animal’s identity (e.g. mother, sub-adult), the food items manipulated and observed and the behavior of the youngster both preceding and immediately following an intensive observation. The diet of the mothers and juveniles were also estimated in occurrence and in quantity of fresh matter ingested. Contents in crude lipid and crude protein of main foods were analysed in using classical methods. It appeared that intensive observations were displayed by young macaques from their first month of life and were mainly directed toward mothers sampling common foods. They were followed by rare food explorations. After weaning, youngsters mainly paid attention towards mother and subadults sampling rare plants (no particular interest in food rich in crude lipids and proteins or in food hard to process). Intensive observations also shaped a change in the behavior of young macaques by significantly stimulating the investigation of foods and/or the foraging location. Thus, intensive observation and related food exploration displayed by young Japanese macaques might be indicative of a stimulus/location enhancement process allowing young to get information on foods.
