By the Lion-Tailed Macaque (Macaca Silenus) in the Western Ghats, India
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Hunting of Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) by the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) in the Western Ghats, India In most primate species, with the excep- of an adult squirrel17 is about 2 kg with a holding it by the scruff of its neck. It was tion of Colobinae and Indriidae, faunal body length of 35–41 cm and tail length still alive when the monkey started to prey constitutes a significant portion of of about 60 cm. Here we report an inci- bite its head. In a few seconds, the squir- the diet1. The prey mainly includes arthro- dent of predation on a sub-adult Indian rel was dead. The monkey ripped-off the pods and small vertebrates. The type of giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) by an adult, skin on its head and started to eat the prey species varies with the body size of male, lion-tailed macaque. flesh around the neck. None of the other the primate species, with small-bodied This incident took place during our group members showed any interest, primates such as prosimians feeding study on resource partitioning among except a sub-adult male who came to the mainly on insects. The relatively large- sympatric, diurnal, arboreal mammals in tree in which the adult male was present bodied primates included small vertebrates the evergreen forests of the Indira Gandhi and sat in proximity. When the adult such as lizards, birds, small mammals, Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, India. male finally dropped the carcass, the etc. in their diet2–4. Occurrence of larger The study site, Pachchapalmalai Shola sub-adult male quickly descended to the vertebrate prey such as hare, fawn of an- (10°24′35.38″N and 77°0′31.34″E), is an branch from which the carcass hung and telopes and other species of monkeys has evergreen forest fragment with an area grabbed it. Not much was left of the been reported in the diet of large-bodied of about 3.5 km2. The diurnal, arboreal squirrel, except a few parts of the vis- primates such as chimpanzees and mammalian community at the study site cera, half-eaten limbs and tail. baboons5,6. Consumption of large verte- consisted of two groups of lion-tailed Faunal prey is an important component brate prey has also been reported in macaques, ten groups of Nilgiri langur in the diet of the lion-tailed macaque. capuchins7. Hunting, in terms of pursuit, (Semnopithecus johnii), two visiting Although feeding on vertebrates is not capture and consumption of large verte- groups of bonnet macaque and several frequent, there have been sporadic re- brate prey, has been well documented in individuals of the Indian giant squirrel18. ports of lion-tailed macaques foraging on chimpanzees6,8,9, baboons5,10 and capu- Two individuals of the Indian giant frogs, lizards, bats, small birds, three- chins7. Most macaques have an omni- squirrel were chosen for the study and striped squirrels, nestlings of the Indian vorous diet with varying proportions of observations were made using ad libitum giant squirrel and the large, brown, fly- fruits, leaves, flowers, arthropods and, to and scan sampling19. ing squirrel11,13,20. There is also one report some extent, small vertebrates3,11–13. The The following observations were made of an unsuccessful attack on a mouse- lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) is by one of the authors (H.S.S.). On 29 deer fawn by the lion-tailed macaque13, an endangered species endemic to the April 2001, at 9:20 am a few individuals though it is not clear whether it was an evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, from the study group of lion-tailed attempt to predate upon the deer. While India. Its diet mainly consists of fruits, macaques were foraging for insects in feeding on arthropods and smaller prey is arthropods, flowers and other minor items the canopy. A sub-adult Indian giant common among most age-sex classes in such as moss, mushroom and grass14,15. squirrel, which was resting on a branch, the lion-tailed macaque, foraging on lar- The Indian giant squirrel is a large, diur- jumped down to the ground and started ger prey is mainly reported among the nal, arboreal squirrel. It is widely dis- to scurry. An adult male of the lion-tailed adult males13. All of the previous inci- tributed in peninsular India and occurs in macaque group quickly descended to the dents suggest that the prey was detected the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and ground and chased the squirrel for a dis- at a close range and captured. This tactic Central India16. The squirrel inhabits tance of about 30 m. He hit the squirrel of capturing of prey – scavenge hunt- mainly moist deciduous, riverine and on its head with one swipe, pinned it to ing – requires least specialized predatory evergreen forests. Average body weight the ground and carried it off to a tree by skills and energy and is characteristic of CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 95, NO. 11, 10 DECEMBER 2008 1535 SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE omnivorous primates1. Although in the might have started as predominantly 16. Abdulali, H. and Daniel, J. C., J. Bombay present incident the prey was detected at adult male activity to develop into a tra- Natl. Hist. Soc., 1952, 50, 469–474. a close range, it was different from the dition of systematic predation by all 17. Prater, S. H., The Book of Indian Ani- previous incidents of predation on giant members of the group, as is described for mals, Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1971, p. 198. squirrel nestlings, because it was the first the yellow baboons10. 18. Sushma, H. S. and Singh, M., Behav. incident in the wild where the monkey Ecol., 2006, 17, 479–491. successfully chased, captured and con- 19. Altmann, J., Behaviour, 1974, 49, 227– 1. Hamilton III, W. and Busse, C. D., sumed an animal of such a large size. 267. Bioscience, 1978, 28, 761–766. Moreover, the prey was not a nestling 20. Umapathy, G. and Prabhakar, A., J. 2. Fleagle, J. G., Primate Adaptation and and hence was not restricted in its Bombay Natl. Hist. Soc., 1996, 93, 79. Evolution, Academic Press, New York, movements, and was faster than the mon- 1999. key itself. 3. Suzuki, S., Hill, D. A., Maruhashi, T. The observations were made on a group and Tsukahara, T., Primates, 1990, 31, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank the of lion-tailed macaques in an area where 421–426. Tamil Nadu Forest Department for permission there were several individuals of Indian 4. Furuichi, T., Primates, 2006, 47, 174–176. to conduct research and support in the field. 5. Hausfater, G., Behaviour, 1976, 56, 44–68. giant squirrel. The home range of the We thank the Wildlife Conservation Society 6. Boesch, C. and Boesch, H., Am. J. Phys. lion-tailed macaque group being large, it India Programme and Indo-US Primate Pro- Anthropol., 1989, 78, 547–573. overlapped with home ranges of many ject for funds. 7. Rose, L. M., Int. J. Primatol., 1997, 8, giant squirrels. The macaque group was 727–765. almost always in the home range of any 8. Stanford, C. B., Wallis, J., Matama, H. giant squirrel in the study area. Some- and Goodall, J., Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., Received 18 June 2008; revised accepted 23 times macaques and squirrels were even 1994, 94, 213–228. October 2008 seen on the same tree feeding in pro- 9. Watts, D. C. and Mitani, J. C., Int. J. ximity, with little or no aggression. The Primatol., 2002, 23, 1–28. 1 giant squirrels do not give alarm calls 10. Strum, S. C., Science, 1975, 187, 755–757. H. S. SUSHMA 2, when they see a group of lion-tailed 11. Kumar, A., Ph D thesis, Cambridge MEWA SINGH * macaques. This suggests that such oppor- University, UK, 1987. tunistic hunting behaviour occurs infre- 12. O’Brien, T. G. and Kinnaird, M., Int. J. 1Wildlife Institute of India, quently. Nevertheless, such sporadic Primatol., 1997, 18, 321–351. Chandrabani, 13. Kumara, H. N., Singh, M., Sharma, A. incidents throw light upon behavioural Dehradun 248 001, India K., Singh, M. and Kumar, M. A., Pri- 2Biopsychology Laboratory, plasticity and the ability of this endan- mate Rep., 2000, 58, 57–65. gered macaque to expand the spectrum of 14. Kurup, G. U. and Kumar, A., Int. J. Pri- University of Mysore, prey and include large vertebrates such matol., 1993, 14, 27–39. Mysore 570 006, India as the prey described above. It also has 15. Sushma, H. S., Ph D thesis, University of *For correspondence. implications for such behaviours which Mysore, 2004. e-mail: [email protected] 1536 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 95, NO. 11, 10 DECEMBER 2008 .