Behavioural studies: a necessity for wildlife management

A major concern of behavioural biology has been the study of evolutionary causative processes in animal behaviour, typically focusing on individuals or social groups. Conservation biology, on the other hand, deals with devising tools for the management of wildlife habitats and populations, and typically focuses on ecosystems. We argue that behavioural studies of individual animals in the appropriate social contexts are necessary for, and integral to, the development of effective management plans for any species. We use the results from our studies on lion-tailed macaques from wild habitats in the Western Ghats, and from captive populations in Europe, to demonstrate how information on behaviour and life-history can be incorporated into improved strategies for wildlife management. We explicitly conclude that one of the major goals of wildlife management should be to create conditions that facilitate the expression of the full range of behavioural patterns in the species being managed, so as to increase the likelihood of population stabilization through the optimization of life-history parameters

Infant development in the slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus)

In this article we present data on infant development in wild slender loris, a nocturnal primate species. The behavioural ecology of the grey slender loris Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus, a nocturnal strepsirrhine, was studied for 21 months (October 1997-June 1999) in a scrub jungle in Dindigul, south India. A total of 22,834 scans were collected during 2656 h of observation on identified and unidentified lorises using instantaneous point and ad libitum sampling methods. Developmental schedules were observed for twelve individuals born during the course of the study period. A greater number of twin births were observed than singleton births and more isosexuals than heterosexuals. Infants were parked at the age of 3 weeks and weaned by 5 months of age. Individuals showed significant developmental differences in their activity schedules. Females appeared to reach sexual maturity by 10 months of age. Social interactions with related conspecifics decreased with age and adult slender lorises did not show differences in social time spent with related and non-related conspecifics

Hierarchy, kinship and social interaction among Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata)

The study reports the relationship between hierarchy, genetic relatedness and social interaction in captive Japanese macaques. Grooming and proximity were found to be positively related to both dominance rank and degrees of relatedness. Ranks also positively correlated with threats while no relationship was observed between genetic relationships and agonistic interactions. The removal of α-male tightened the male hierarchy while the female hierarchy became relatively loose. Affiliative behaviour became more correlated with ranks than degrees of genetic relatedness. In the absence of α-male, the next dominant male avoided involvement in either agonistic or afliliative interactions with reintroduced animals and group females

Hunting of Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) by the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) in the Western Ghats, India

This article does not have an abstract

An endangered species in captivity: husbandry and management of the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus)

The species that are endangered in their wild habitats also need to be maintained as sustainable populations in captivity. The liontailed macaque (Macaca silenus) endemic to the Western ghats of India, is an endangered species. The captive breeding programmes for this species have been taken up in North America, Europe and India. However, the management practices for the captive population need to be standardized. We propose that an assessment of the biological potential of a captive population at any given time can help predict future population dynamics. Since systematic data on the captive populations of the lion-tailed macaque in European institutions are available for the past several decades, we use those data to trace the development of the population in a historical perspective, and then use this perspective to develop a husbandry and population management manual for the liontailed macaque in captivity. We propose husbandry guidelines for individual groups, and also propose that each group should be considered a part of a metapopulation

Infant development and weaning in Macaca silenus in the natural habitats of the Western Ghats, India

This article reports the development of behaviour in 31 lion-tailed macaque infants from birth to the age of 15 months. The study was conducted during January 2002-June 2005. The study animals included a large group of lion-tailed macaques inhabiting a rainforest fragment in the Western Ghats, India. Two critical stages were observed during the development of the infants: one at the age of five and a half months, and another at the age of nine months. When the infants were five and a half months old, there was a sudden increase in the occurrence of nipple contact, a sharp decline in the per cent of infants making nipple contact after this age, a peak in the occurrence of retrieve by the mother, a peak in the occurrence of play by the infant, and a peak in the occurrence of environmental exploration by the infant, and stabilization of exploration after this age. Up to the age of nine months, the occurrence of an infant approaching the mother and mother punishing the infant continued to increase, and these two behaviours abruptly ended at the age of nine months. Mother grooming the infant occurred with a peak at the infant's age of nine months. It appears that in lion-tailed macaques, the mother actively initiated weaning. It began at the infant's age of five and a half months and was completed by the time the infant was nine months old. The mother, however, increased the frequency of grooming the infant, and thus continued to care for the infant in ways that cost her less in terms of parental investment. A longer duration of nipple contact by some male infants, more retrieval and grooming of male infants, and more proximity of male infants to mothers indicated higher maternal parental investment on male infants

Methodological considerations in measurement of dominance in primates

The strength of dominance hierarchy in a group of animals needs to be quantitatively measured since it influences many other aspects of social interactions. This article discusses three attempts made by previous researchers to measure the strength of hierarchy. We propose a method which attempts to rectify the lacunae in the previous attempts. Data are used from a group of Japanese macaques housed in a colony. A method to calculate strength of hierarchy has been illustrated and a procedure has been suggested to normalize the dominance scores in order to place the ranks of individuals on an interval scale

Stand structure of a primate rich rainforest region in the central Western Ghats of Southern India

The Western Ghats of southern India are one of the most important biodiversity regions in the world, not only due to their faunal diversity and abundance but also due to different habitat types, floral diversity and the presence of several endemic plant species. The rainforests in the central Western Ghats are inhabited by several primate species. We investigated the vegetation pattern and tree species occupancy of one of the prime primate habitats in the central Western Ghats. Lion-tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus), Bonnet Macaque (Macaca radiata), Hanuman Langur (Semnopithecus entellus achates) and Malabar Slender Loris (Loris lydekkerianus malabaricus) inhabit the study area. We studied the density, dominance, frequency and Importance Value Index (IVI) of different tree species, using the belt transect method on randomly selected plots covering 4.1ha. We found that all the plant species that emerged to be the most dominant species with high IVI in the forest were also used by the diurnal primates for foraging. Knema attenuata and Syzygium gardneri were found to be the 'keystone' species. Since the forests of the study area do not come under the 'protected area network' for wildlife, the data obtained during this study will be helpful in the forestry management practices with a view for wildlife conservation of the region

Observations on tool use in captive lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus)

Lion-tailed macaques in Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Garden, Mysore, India were observed to use several tools (plastic piece, candy wrapper, leaf, vegetable leaf, egg-shell and coconut shell) to drink water from the pool. Here we report the simple multiple tool use in the species. The behaviour was first observed in an adult male. This male was confiscated and was probably hand-reared. It started using tools within a short period of introduction. After some time, the other captive monkeys also started to use multiple tools in a similar way to drink water. This may be an example of social learning

Exploring & Identifying Predictors That Affect Asian American College Students' Sense of Belonging: "How Do I Fit In?"

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among various college environment factors, specifically living on campus, on-campus employment, mentorship, involvement in college organizations and student groups, socio-cultural discussions, and perception of nondiscriminatory climate and how these relationships potentially affect Asian American college students' sense of belonging. Data came from the 2009 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, which had a robust Asian American sample that included 6,786 Asian American college student participants. Descriptive analysis was conducted to provide an overview of the sample under study in terms of gender, parents' education, high school involvement, major, institutional characteristics, live on-campus, work on-campus, have a mentor, involvement in college organizations and the type of college organization involvement. Through mean comparisons, distribution of sense of belonging was analyzed between all Asian Americans and the three subpopulations being investigated which were Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, and Asian Indian Americans. A one-way ANOVA was used to determine if there were differences in perception of sense of belonging between the ethnic subpopulations as well as from the overall Asian Americans college students and a random sample of non-Asian college students. Astin's (1993) college impact I-E-O model was used to design blocked hierarchical multiple regression models to test and identify significant predictors of sense of belonging for all Asian Americans and the three subpopulations. T-tests were conducted and significant differences between standardized and unstandardized beta coefficients were evaluated. Several key findings emerged from this study to include the most significant predictors of Asian Americans' sense of belonging were the perception of a nondiscriminatory climate on campus and participation in socio-cultural discussions with peers. Other significant predictors include having a mentor and being involved in a college organization particularly student governance and campus wide programming types of student groups. Scholars and practitioners within the field of higher education can continue the work from this study in disaggregating the data on the many Asian American ethnic groups to better understand their respective needs, and in turn, improve services and programs that strengthen this growing constituency's sense of belonging and collegiate success