The Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus (Primates: Cercopithecidae): conservation history and status of a flagship species of the tropical rainforests of the Western Ghats, India

Abstract

The Lion-tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus) is a threatened species inhabiting the rainforests of the Western Ghats mountain range in southern India. Once assessed to be less than a thousand individuals remaining in the wild habitats, the population is now estimated to be between 3000 and 3500 individuals. However, the rainforest habitats of the species are highly fragmented. During the past three decades or less, the population of this species has severely declined due to habitat degradation and illegal hunting in several areas of its occurrence. In situ conservation programs included notification of certain areas as Lion-tailed Macaque conservation regions. Several captive breeding programs have been initiated in order to have a viable captive population of the species. However, the analysis reveals that both in situ and ex situ conservation programs have not achieved the desired success and the species is even more endangered than it was a few decades ago. In this article, we discuss these conservation programs and suggest further measures for effective conservation of Lion-tailed Macaques.