Primates in Peril

ut do occur. Aggression is quite rare except during
mating when adult males pursue each other on trees
but the behaviour is not as acute as in lowland langurs.
Grooming is the most common social activity in adults
as play is in juveniles and sub-adults. Allo-mothering
or ‘aunting’ is also common where infants are often
handled by females other than the mother. The langurs
in Chamba exhibit only two types of vocalization, the
deep bark mostly by adult males and occasionally by
females and the squeal of infants and juveniles. The
unanimous barks are used by males during group
movement and occasional aggressions. Minhas et al.
(2010a) though report of morning whoops in Machiara
by resident males that continued through the day,
in addition to barks. Such discrepancies do warrant
further taxonomic research on the Himalayan langurs.
Developmental activities pose a huge threat to these
langurs. Unregulated and uninformed tourism is
a growing threat in Chamba. In Khajjiar-Kalatop
Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area falling within the
langur range, tourist resorts, hotels and restaurants
are burgeoning to feed the growing population of
tourists from around the country. Such developments
unfortunately do not come with proper waste disposal
leaving a bounty of non-biodegradable waste around
the area. Roads are constructed to connect the
formerly inaccessible areas to support avid trekkers and
uninformed wildlife ‘enthusiasts’. No environmental
impact assessment is in place to study the effect of these
activities on local wildlife. Logging and lopping are other
concerns around Chamba. In the 2012-2013 survey
(Anandam et al. 2013b), 76 sites reported conflict with
langurs due to crop raiding. About 25% of respondents
from 244 sites expressed negative attitudes towards crop
raiding langurs. Crop raiding therefore is a concerning
threat and in need of immediate attention.
The Himalayan Langur Project established conservation
studies in Chamba in 2012, and has since been working
to establish holistic conservation for the Chamba Sacred
Langur through credible science and research. The
project is now focused on working with communities in
Chamba to devise sustainable crop protection measures
and in establishing a community conservation platform
for future collaborations and conservation action. The
Conflict Mitigation and Community Conservation
(CM2) Platform, as it has come to be known, unites
farming communities and other concerned stakeholders
into building a cooperative system to address issues
concerned with human-wildlife interactions and others
of environmental and conservation concern. The
project also runs education and sensitization programs
and has launched a conservation magazine, ‘Achamba!’.
More information on the project and recent updates
can be had from www.zooreach.org.
References
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