My Science School

Try to picturise a monkey in your mind that has a furry dark brown body, a teeny-weeny tail just about 2 inches long, and a hairless, red coloured face as if dipped in a can of red paint!

The stump-tailed Macaque, also known as the bear Macaque, is a primate predominantly found in the tropical and subtropical forests of Asian countries such as Cambodia, China, Northeast India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and northwest Peninsular Malaysia.

These Macaques generally have a large body structure. Males can be as large as 65 cm in length and weigh up to 12 kg. Females are relatively smaller. Owing to its large body size, the stump-tailed Macaque is a lazy tree climber and uses the trees only to relish the fruits or sleep at night. Males climb more often to look out for potential danger and to keep watch over the troop.

The undisturbed rainforests of the tropics provide these primates the much-needed food, nutrition, and shelter and hence are crucial for their survival. Although they are known to live up to 30 years, threats such as poaching, habitat loss, and natural predators have considerably shortened the lifespan of these animals in the wild. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has listed these animals as ‘Vulnerable’and foresees an alarming population dips in the coming years.

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The Nilgiri Tahr is an endangered ungulate (large mammal with hooves), which is the state animal of Tamil Nadu. Herbivorous in nature, they prefer grassland habitats with steep rocky hills and are endemic to the Nilgiri hills and other parts of the Tamil Nadu-Kerala Western Ghats.

These goat-like mammals are closely related to sheep. The body is broad and sturdy, and the fur is coarse and bristle-like. The curly sharp horns vary in length depending on the gender. Males grow longer horns than females and can measure up to 40 cm. They also grow darker as they mature and are bulkier and taller than the females. Some healthy members can weigh up to 100 kg and attain a shoulder height of 100 cm. In contrast to their dark-coloured bodies, male Tahrs develop a light grey patch on their backs that look like natural saddlebacks!

The Eravikulam National Park in Kerala has the highest density and largest living population of the Nilgiri Tahrs, second to which is the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.

One may find these cliff climbers only in restricted ranges, but their role in balancing the ecosystem is undeniable.

As with the other endangered species, the Nilgiri Tahrs, too, are subject to constant threats such as poaching, livestock overgrazing, and encroachment of different animal species into their habitats, which is why their global population has considerably dwindled to about 2000 or 3000 in number.

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If you thought that the mesmerizing beauty of the rainforests of the Western Ghats is unrivalled, you probably are wrong! The rainforests of north-eastern India are perhaps the most captivating of all rainforests, thanks to their comparatively lower density of human inhabitants!

These Indian rainforests stretch across the six eastern states of northern Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and part of Arunachal Pradesh. Most of this area is at an altitude of around 900 metres. It serves as a haven to several evergreens and semi-evergreen rainforests, moist deciduous monsoon forests, riparian (wetland) forests, swamps, and grasslands.

The evergreen rainforests of Northeast India spread their foliage in the wet valleys of Assam, the foothills of the eastern Himalayas, lower parts of the Naga Hills, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Manipur, owing mainly to the heavy rainfalls received in these regions.

These areas are renowned for their moist monsoon forests that abound in precious sandalwood and rosewood trees and, of course, the Sal trees.

The Joy-dihing wildlife sanctuary of the upper regions of Assam comprises the Joypur reserve forests, Dirak reserve forests, and Dihing reserve forests. The Sanctuary is home to a wide range of primate species like the Rhesus Macaque, Assamese Macaque, Capped langurs, Slow loris, Pig-tailed Macaque, Stump-tailed Macaque, Hoolock Gibbons, and also a large elephant population.

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A civet is a nocturnal carnivorous mammal that resembles a raccoon. They share several similarities with cats.

The Malabar large-spotted civet, known as the Malabar civet, is a civet indigenous to the Western Ghats. Its notable features are the white throat and neck, the mane between the shoulders, and the tail with dark ringed bands. These mammals are dark-grey and spot a black mark on the cheeks. Large cross-marks define the back of the body, and the sides flaunt obliquely patterned dark shades.

The species flourished until the 19th century. They could be seen aplenty in the rich wooded lowlands, the elevated forests of the Ghats, and along the stretches of the Malabar Coast and in parts of the old Travancore state.

The population of the species started to decline after being hunted for its musky secretion, which formed a primary aromatic ingredient in the perfume industry.

Widespread deforestation at the beginning of the 20th Century almost pushed the animal to extinction. Thankfully, the animal was spotted both in 1987 and recently, during the Covid lockdown, wandering around an abandoned street in a town in Kerala.

The surveys conducted between 1990 and 2014 have not recorded the presence of the animal at all. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List because of its alarmingly low numbers.

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Far away in the jungles of the Western Ghats, is a little black ‘lion’. He is called so because of his head and the tuft on the tail! The canines in his mouth can bring shivers to your bones, and so can his cry, fierce and mighty! But afraid of the nights, he lives on top of trees, is shy as a squirrel and eats nothing but fruits!

The lion-tailed Macaques, also known as Wanderoos, are a species of monkeys endemic to the Western Ghats.

Identifying a lion-tailed Macaque from other monkeys is child’s play. Its body is hairy and dark. The dark hairless face centres a silver-white mane, and the tails have a tufted tip, both traits resembling the lion. The trunk is haired, but not the face. It is black and boasts long and sharp canines inside the mouth.

The lion-tailed Macaques are diurnal and arboreal, and feed mainly on fruits, leaves, buds, and insects. They are endemic to the tropical rainforest regions of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka and appear in groups of about 20 members.

Good defenders of their territory, they engage in fierce brawls and loud cries when threatened. Agriculture, dams, and tea/coffee plantations have pushed down their population to being ‘endangered’ according to the IUCN Red List.

Picture Credit : Google