Conservation must go beyond forest protection says study on endangered macaques

Bengaluru, May 6 (PTI) A new study by the Bengaluru-based Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), India, on endangered lion-tailed macaques--found only in the Western Ghats--highlights that conservation efforts must go beyond merely protecting forest areas.
    With the Western Ghats increasingly facing fragmentation and development, preserving continuous canopy cover is critical for the survival of these endangered primates, the study notes.
    Tracking two troops of lion-tailed macaques--one within the core area of Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad, Kerala, and the other in its buffer zone--the study mapped how the primates selectively and strategically use their habitat in response to growing human pressures.
    The study, titled "Highs and lows of arboreal life: Space use and movement strategies of lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) in the Western Ghats of India", was published in the American Journal of Primatology on April 29, said Sikha Hariharan, a Doctoral Fellow at CWS.
    According to Hariharan, who led the study, fewer than 4,000 lion-tailed macaques remain in the wild.
    "Based on detailed animal tracking and ecological data, we found remarkable behavioural flexibility in how these macaques navigate the three-dimensional complexity—land and trees—of their arboreal pathways," she told PTI.
    An animal’s movement reflects how it perceives its environment and balances the need for food, safety, and survival. It is often the first visible indicator of a response to changes around it, said Hariharan, who added that it took her about one and a half years, spread over three years starting in 2019, to complete the study.
    "While terrestriality, or the use of the ground, was previously associated only with macaque populations in degraded habitats, our study found that even in undisturbed environments, the macaques routinely explore and use the forest floor," she added.
    Co-authors of the study include Krithi K Karanth, Chief Conservation Scientist and Director at CWS, and Adjunct Faculty at Duke University and the National Centre for Biological Sciences; and Divya Vasudev, Co-Founder and Senior Scientist at Conservation Initiatives, a not-for-profit trust based in Guwahati.
    The researchers used GPS tracking, vertical space use assessments, and advanced movement modelling to examine how the macaques navigate their surroundings, both high in the forest canopy and along the forest floor.
    The findings add to growing evidence that highlights the need to factor in three-dimensional space use in wildlife conservation strategies, especially for arboreal species.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)