Conservation Status of Primates in the Central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India
Primate Conservation 2018 (32): 175-183 Conservation Status of Primates in the Central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India P. Ramesh Kumar1, Honnavalli N. Kumara2, M. Malathi Priya3, Hosur S. Sushma2, K. M. Meharabi4 and Swati Udayraj5 1Karnataka Forest Department, Bellary Territorial Forest Division, Bellary, Karnataka, India 2Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 3Karnataka Forest Department, Working Plan and Survey Division, Bellary, Karnataka, India 4Department of Animal Science, Central University of Kerala, Padannakkad, Kasaragod, Kerala, India 5Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Kalapet, Puducherry, India Abstract: Kudremukh Wildlife Division is one of the largest of the Protected Area Network (henceforth the Kudremukh Forest Complex) in the Western Ghats that includes Kudremukh National Park, Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and Mookambika Wild- life Sanctuary, covering an area of about 1,285 km². The Kudremukh Forest Complex support three species of diurnal non-human primates: the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata), and the black-footed gray langur (Sem- nopithecus hypoleucos), hereafter called the Hanuman langur. A survey of diurnal primates was carried out between December 2014 and April 2015 in the Kudremukh Forest Complex. A grid of 5-km² cells was superimposed on a map of the three protected areas of the Kudremukh Forest Complex. Each grid cell was systematically surveyed for four consecutive days using an existing network of trails and animal paths. The encounter rate of the Hanuman langur was significantly higher than the bonnet macaque and lion-tailed macaque. The encounter rates of the Hanuman langur, bonnet macaque, and lion-tailed macaque were 0.20 ±0.27 SD, 0.11 ±0.16 SD, and 0.03 ±0.10 SD, respectively.
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