Demography, Activity Pattern, Food and Feeding Habits of Primates in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India

The Western Ghats of South India has a highly fragmented population of India's most endangered primate species viz. the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) and Nilgiri langur (Trachypithecus johnii). The distribution of Common or Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus) extends up to the southern region of the Western Ghats. Peninsular India holds two other primate species, the bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata) and the slender loris (Loris tardigradus). This is the first attempt to conduct the distribution of south Indian primates in and around Gudalur region, The Nilgiris. The study area was perambulated to locate the primates to know the status and distribution of these animals. Data on troop structure, composition and sex ratios were attempted. Behavioral data of primates were collected using focal animal sampling. Comparison of age and sex class of the adult female of all three primates such as bonnet macaque, common langur and Nilgiri langur is higher than the adult males. Similarly comparison of habitat selection shows that bonnet macaque and common langur prefers mostly on plantations followed by moist deciduous habitat. Whereas the Nilgiri langur prefer mostly on shola forests. The result of different activities shows that all these three primates spent most of time on resting activities followed by feeding. Statistical analysis of One-way ANOVA shows that there are significant differences among the three species of primates on Age-sex classes, activity pattern and feeding habits. Detailed studies that combined field surveys and phylogenetic studies are needed to determine the primate distribution and status in the rain forests.