In the present study on average 4808 grivet monkeys were recorded in the study area. The number of grivet monkeys varies with the habitat types. In the Zegie Peninsula, large numbers of grivet monkeys are found in the agricultural area during the wet season than the dry season, and this result is similar to Getachew Gebeyehu and Afework Bekele [14]. This might be due to the presence of more edible fruits and vegetables in the agricultural area during the wet season than the dry season.
The number of grivet monkey is relatively higher in the lakeshore during the dry season than the wet season. This difference might be due to their demand to get more water during the dry season and thus they aggregate closer to lakeshore habitats. The types of plants in the lakeshore and forest habitats are almost similar. However, as the lakeshore habitat is adjacent to the lake, they can get water easily and more grivets are found in lakeshore habitats than forests during the dry season. Thus, depending on their demand for food and water, grivets shift their habitats between the dry and wet seasons. The same is true in shrub habitat as a large number of grivets visit shrub habitat during the wet season than the dry season due to the availability of edible herbs and invertebrates.
Generally, the number of grivet monkeys is higher in the agricultural areas followed by the lakeshore, forest, and shrub habitats. These differences might be due to the variation in food and water availability and/or resting sites [25]. On average there was about four grivet monkey per hectare in the Zegie Peninsula.
The age structure of grivets showed that adults are more in number, followed by juveniles, while infants are the least. The size of a population and its age and sex composition may indicate its viability [26]. Female biased sex ratio and a fairly high proportion of juveniles indicate a healthy population [27].
In Zelie Peninsula the main occupation of the people was a coffee plantation. The respondents acknowledged that until recently there was no farming practice because the Monasteries in the Peninsula had forbidden the use of any type of draft animal for farming. Nevertheless, currently, people have started farming and clearing the forest for agricultural purposes and this may affect the natural habitats of some of the wild animals [28].
Zegie Peninsula is the most convenient area for grivet monkeys as the habitat is characterized by its dense forest with perennial trees and partly enclosed by Lake Tana. The majority of the Old World monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus occupy varying forest habitats, from primary, secondary and rain forest to bamboo forest, flooded and swamp forest [29].
The total number of grivet monkeys in the study area is increasing as it is compared to the study conducted before ten years by Getachew Gebeyehu and Afework Bekele [14]. As a result, human-grivet monkeys conflict is a spearhead problem in the area. The majority of the respondents (94.6%) describe that grivets are categorized as the most problematic wild animal in the peninsula. In this area, most of the residents are dependent on cultivating fruits and vegetables. Similarly, the feeding habits of grivet monkeys are mostly dependent on fruits and vegetables [28]. Consequently, the human-grivet monkey conflict is an unending problem in the area.
In the absence of viable alternative economic activities, many residents of Zegie Peninsula have resorted to cut trees for sale and firewood [27]. According to CARE Ethiopia [17] 90% of the firewood entering Bahir Dar city is from Zegie Peninsula. It is common to get wood collected from the peninsula placed in several places of the lakeshore that is ready to be transported to Bahir Dar by boats. Boats have been caring for wood for sale to Bahir Dar city every day. Similar activities had also been reported by Getachew Gebeyehu and Afework Bekele, [14]. Thus, it is not difficult to understand that grivet monkeys are also faced with a problem as a result of habitat destruction and food scarcity in the study area [30]. Human-grivet monkeys conflict in Zegie Peninsula affects the free movement of local communities and grivet monkeys in a similar manner.
Most respondents replied that there is an increasing tendency of crop damage by grivet monkeys from time to time, and this coincides with the report of Getachew Gebeyehu and Afework Bekele [14]. The effect of grivet monkeys is not limited by crop damage but they also steal and snatch human food and egg from kids, old man and hunt chicken which is similar to the findings of Dessalegn Ejigu and Afework Bekele [30]. However, such modified feeding behavior of grivets in Zegie Peninsula is not reported by Getachew Gebeyehu and Afework Bekele [14]. The development of adaptive feeding behavior of grivets in Zegie Peninsula might be an indication for limited food available for the species in the area as adopted from Wrangham and Waterman [32].
Most (66.1%) of the respondents possessed 0.25 to 1 ha farmland and they produce a limited number of crops mainly coffee, hop and fruits such as lemon, mango, and others. Most of the crops cultivated by the local communities in the peninsula are vulnerable to be damaged by grivet monkeys. As a result, people in Zegie Peninsula described grivet monkeys as disadvantageous because of the nature of crops cultivated and property damage [14].
To maintain their economy people cut trees for firewood, charcoal and for sale. The residents also produce hop plants (which is inedible by grivet monkeys). Most of the inhabitants produce hop next to coffee. Coffee is the most dominant crop in Zegie Peninsula, and it is a widely cultivated crop and found in the forest covered by canopies of large perennial trees. This study is supported by Tilahun Teclehaimanot and Mirutse Giday [28].
Local peoples in Zegie Peninsula have used some pest control methods in order to minimize the impact of crop pests on crops. Most crop pest controlling methods are chasing, killing and trapping by snare [33]. During focus group discussion, the residents described that grivet monkey, bush pig, porcupine, leopard and hyena are killed by illegal hunters in the Peninsula, and the same practice has also been reported by Petersen [15] and Mudingu [34] in different habitats. During the study period, the corpus of a wild cat that was killed by the resident was observed. Wild cats are well known for depredating poultry in the area.