干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

This paper reports an unusual observation of predation by chacma baboons Papio cynocephalus ursinus on a klipspringer antelope calf Oreotragus oreotragus and subsequent aggression between the baboons and black kites Milvus migrans over the calf remains. The observation took place in the Namib Desert, Namibia, during the austral summer; no other cases of vertebrate carnivory or interspecific competition were recorded over a year of study of the baboons. This interaction should be considered active competition rather than passive scavenging, since the behaviour of the kites led to the direct displacement of the baboons from their feeding site and from several scraps of flesh. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited.