Status of Assamese Macaque (Macaca assamensis McClelland, 1840) Inlangtang National Park, Nepal

Abstract

The study was carried out in the month of MayJune, July and August of 2007.A total of 213Assamese macaques(Macaca assamensis)were encountered in 9 groups within the total are asurveyed of 113km²at Langtang National Park. The group density was found tobe 0.0790groups /km²with a population density of1.8691 individuals/km²andamean group size of23.66 individuals.Age-sex composition of macaquecomprised 31% adult females, 16% adultmales, 18% youngs, 16% Juvenilesand 19% were infantsin the study area.The adultsex ratioand the recruitment rate were found to be 1:1.92 and 0.61 (61 infants per 100 females)respectively.Four major behaviors were recorded from the selected Assamese macaque groupat Ronga Pool as foraging 49%, moving 26%, resting 16%, and grooming 9%.The estimatedcrop damage from 75 households was about Rs. 150,000 per annum with the average of Rs.2,000 per household.Presence or absence of macaque damage is significantly related to the distance of the farm from the forest ( 2 =30.9, df=2,P<<0.05).The costs of crop protectionper household ranged between Rs.500-1500 per household per year, which comes to Rs. 37,500-112,500 for75households. It was found that Assamese macaques spoiled more cropsthan they actually eat; juveniles and infants in particular brought about damage during play onthe ground.Among the crops raided by Assamese macaques,maize cobs were found to behighly preferred (62%) followed by potato tubers (23%), millet (7%),buck wheat (6%) and others 2%.The most commonly used crop protection strategy was constant vigilance during crop seasons and used by 60% of the farmers in the study area.Despite the measures of crop protection, macaques did manage to invade the crops in the area. Agricultural crop and livestock depredation by wildlife results indisputes between the park authorities and the local people.Potential solutions recommended here emphasize the need for the Park administration to accept responsibility for the protection of crops and livestock from park wildlife and measures taken immediately to minimize them up to the level of tolerance for sustainable conservation. Key words:Macaca assamensis, Langtang National Park,population,behavior, crop damage,crop protection strategy, conservation