Wolves hang with monkeys to hunt

摘要

In the alpine grasslands of eastern Africa, Ethiopian wolves and gelada monkeys are giving peace a chance. The geladas - a type of baboon - tolerate wolves wandering right through the middle of their herds. The critically endangered wolves ignore potential meals of baby geladas in favour of rodents, which they can catch more easily when the monkeys are present. It's an unusual pact, one that echoes the way dogs started to be domesticated by humans (see "Taming man's best friend", below). Primatologist Vivek Venkataraman at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire noticed the arrangement at Guassa plateau in the highlands of north-central Ethiopia.