State forests world's largest home to lion-tailed Macaque

The thick Sirsi-Honnavara forests of Karnataka in Western Ghats have been found to be the world’s largest home to Lion-Tailed Macaque, a critically endangered species.

The LTM belonging to primates is endemic to the Western Ghats. A recent joint study by two experts led to the finding of 638 LTMs in Sirsi-Honnavara region in 32 groups falling in Kyadagi, Siddapura ranges in Sirsi forest division and Gersoppa, Kumta ranges in Honnavara forest division.

The study was led by Chikmagalur-based wildlife biologist and renowned primatologist Dr Honanavalli N Kumara, and Vijay Mohan Raj, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Sirsi.

It estimated the number of LTMs for the entire Western Ghats to be around 3,500-4,000 with the population in Sirsi-Honnavara being the largest. LTMs also figure in the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural resources (IUCN) “red list”, categorised as Low Risk Near Threatened (LRNT).

It is classified as endangered as it is very selective in its feeding habits and has limited range of occupancy, delayed sexual maturity, long inter-birth intervals, low population turnover and small remaining wild population.

LTMs are found in low numbers in the wild and are highly restricted to narrow strips of rain forests in the region.