Long-term observations of the behavior of black-capped capuchins living in Brazil have allowed the scientific community to identify several stable patterns in their diet and hunting behavior.
As a rule, these monkeys preferred to hunt lizards and other reptiles. A significant portion of the prey, making up approximately one-third, consisted of rodents and various mammals, followed by birds.
It was noted that capuchins receiving regular reinforcement from humans showed significantly less hunting activity—almost half as often as wild individuals. However, the situation changed when there was a decrease in the availability of fruits: during periods of scarcity, the monkeys began to hunt much more frequently.
It is important to note that this increase in hunting frequency applied exclusively to vertebrates; hunting reptiles remained independent of fruit availability.
The results of this study were officially published in the journal PLoS One.