Monkey on a Hot Tin Roof Ecological and Behavioural Adaptations of Liontailed Macaques to a Rainforest Anthropogenic Habitat Matrix in the Western Ghats Mountains of Southern India

Abstract

The lion-tailed macaque is an endangered species, endemic to the Western Ghats mountains of southern India. Whilst generally being classified as an elusive habitat- specialist, some populations have, over the past decade, begun exiting their rainforest habitat to explore and utilise human habitations. These unique populations, therefore, defy previously postulated predictions about the species ecological and behavioural responses to anthropogenic factors, making it paramount to revisit and observe, in real time, the changes exhibited by lion-tailed macaque individuals and troops, as they undergo a pivotal shift in their behavioural-ecological paradigms. My doctoral thesis, thus, attempts to document the ecological changes and behavioural adaptations of a unique lion-tailed macaque population, as it becomes increasingly habituated to humans, and identify key drivers of change that could potentially have major conservation implications for this population. In particular, I document the population demography, using absolute troop counts at pre-determined intervals; habitat- use and movement patterns, using GPS mapping; and behavioural adaptations in terms of time-activity budgets, foraging patterns and social interactions, using standardised focal animal and instantaneous scan observations, of my study population; and attempt an exploration of human lion-tailed macaque relationships through an ethnographic study of the local human communities. My findings suggest that the study lion-tailed macaque population exhibits classic signs of synurbisation, particularly in its habitat selection and foraging patterns. The population thus makes disproportionate use of select human-origin habitats, wherein they have discovered a novel and precious food resource garbage spending, as a result, relatively less time on foraging while increasingly engaging in other activities, including resting and social interactions.