Conservation prospects for lion-tailed macaques in Karnataka, India

Abstract

A substantial proportion of the wild lion-tailed macaque population occurs in Karnataka State, India. In this paper, problems of protecting the macaques and their habitats are discussed. Fairly large portions of the Karnataka habitat remain available. These are free of large-scale shrinkage in area, but are experiencing deterioration in quality due to pressures from enclaves of human settlements, from developmental projects, and from timber/minor forest produce extraction. Illegal hunting is another threat to the population. A pragmatic, cost-effective approach to conservation of rain forest habitats, centered around protection of nature reserves, with the lion-tailed macaque as a flagship species, as opposed to a strategy based on captive propagation, is advocated.