Behind the Spectacle Wearing Monkey – Phyre’s Leaf Langur in Barak Valley, Assam
February 1, 2009 – 4:39 pmby Kripaljyoti Mazumdar
The North Eastern states of India are one of the rich biodiversity hot spot areas of the glob and known for its endemism especially in case of primate species. More than 350 species of primates are currently found worldwide. Out of these 17 species are found in India of which 11 species are found only in northeastern India and very much endemic to the region. It is important to mention that out of these 11 species 2 are very recent to science viz. Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana). In this discussion we are going to chat about one of the most threatened species of langur found only in Tripura, Mizoram and some parts of Assam. The scientific name of the species is Trachypithecus phayrei belong to the langur family. All together there are three species of primates belonging to langur family are found in the North east; Capped langur, Golden langur and Phayre’s leaf monkey. The Phayre’s leaf langur is the smallest among these three langur species.
During my Masters in Ecology and Environmental science, I was fortunate to work under Dr. A.K. Das, former HoD and Dr. Abhik Gupta, Dean, School of Environmental Science, Assam University on this species as part of my Master’s thesis. This fascinating creature, Phayre’s leaf-monkey (Trachypithecus phayrei) is one of the most threatened species of primate found in the North- eastern region of India. In Assam, Phayre’s leaf-monkey is found only in Barak valley comprising the districts of Cachar, Hailakandi, and Karimganj Dr. A. Choudhury (1987) has reported this species for the first time from the Inner line reserve forest of Assam. Now only 129 individuals of Phayre’s leaf-monkey are recorded from the state of Asom (Bose and Bhattacharjee, 2002). Listed as Schedule-I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; data deficient species in the red list of IUCN and Appendix II of CITES.
Found in the countries like Bangladesh, Burma, China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam; three subspecies are found all over the planet (i.e. Trachypithecus phayrei phayrei, Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus, Trachypithecus phayrei shanicus). The Trachypithecus phayrei phayrei is the subspecies found in our region, having the dorsal side either dark brown, buffy, or gray-brown and the ventral side is gray or whitish in coloration. Around the eye there is a white ring, which look like spectacle and so it is also popularly known as spectacle monkey or Chasma Bandar. This species has an extensive cap of hair on the top of the head that occurs in all individuals except newborn infants. The species is one of the endemic species found in the Barak valley. In Cachar district the distribution that has recorded so far has been from the survey done during the Indo- US primate project in 1997 and the survey done by Dr. J. Bose on behalf of the Wildlife Trust of India. The survey done by Dr. Bose in 2002 has revealed about 4 sites out of the reserve forests and sanctuaries in Barak valley. But some of the new surveys done by us revealed another new distribution sites in the eco-forest in and outside the Assam university campus and one village named Mishipur village near the University campus. Thus it certainly enhanced the chances for the new distribution patches in the Barak valley and some new trapped populations. Known for its adaptability with the environment, the Trachypithecus phayrei is a folivorous species. This species lives in both primary and secondary forests, and also on tea estates where bamboo groves are found. In the Barak valley Phayre’s leaf-monkey is found in higher densities in mixed-species plantations than in monoculture plantations.
In our study time the species is seen specially take the immature leafs of the bamboo. In the Inner Line Reserve Forest of Assam, this species was found to mainly consume bamboo shoots (Srivastava, 1999). So our observation matches with that of Srivastava in the inner line forest. In southern Assam the three most preferred food items were Teinestachum dulloea, Dendrocalamus griffithii, and Mokania micrantha (Bose and Bhattacharjee, 2002). This species prefers to consume immature leaves to more mature ones.
The species is facing some of the severe problems for its existence in the valley. It is the most significant threat to the survival of primates in Northeast India (Srivastava, 2005). However, it is evident that certain species can survive in disturbed habitats, but the long-term consequences on their reproduction and survival are not known. The Phayre’s langur (T. phayrei) is the most adopted species of the primates found in the northeast India. It is estimated that the species takes about 9-10 years cycle to adapt to a particular area or degradation. It is important to note that the primate species in Northeast India have been forced into crop raiding because of loss of natural habitat to agriculture. In some cases, they have clearly learned to coexist with humans by using crops as a significant part of their diet. In this case we can put our second site as example where most of the forest is used as jhum practice and shifting cropping system. Conflicts of this kind are likely to increase in the future as the human population continues to grow exponentially in Northeast India.
Apart from that the rapid expansion of most of the tea gardens has continuously threatening the existence of the primates. The constant conversion of the forest area (which are mostly of the secondary growth) into the tea gardens has heavily threatened the existence of the primate in such a small patch of land. No doubt it is the most adapted species, though such squeezing is compelling it to lose the habitat. Fragmentation raises the extinction risk because isolated subpopulation can go extinct one by one without being repopulated. Stochastic decline in small subpopulation makes it more likely that they will go extinct and this is further worsened by the reduction of genetic variability in subpopulation resulted from isolation. Species already with restricted ranges are particularly vulnerable to these threats.
Haunting is a threat even more severe than forest destruction in some of the more remote areas. Even in some of our study site i.e. in the Mishipur village the Jayantia tribes used to kill the monkey for their meat. It is one of the popular foods for the Jayantia tribes in the village. We have found only one small troop consisting about 5-6 individuals in it. The secondary information collected from the old people of the village reveals the fact that earlier a huge no. of population used to reside in the village forest but constant haunting threat decreases the population of the species and now only 5-7 individual’s trip is seen in the village and that also very rarely.
RECOMMENDATION:
The troops we have selected for the study are the isolated population of primates and are totally cut off from the other Phayre’s langur population. As they are isolated from the other population they should be given highest priority for the conservation.
Conservation of the Habitat:
Since, forest loss is the principal threat to primates; habitat protection should be given highest conservation priority (Srivastava, 2005). The Phayre’s leaf monkey which is one of the most adapted primate species also found it difficult in the area to adapt to the heavy destruction being done in the area of study.
Protection and declaration of protected area:
Strict protection is needed to prevent further extraction of fuel wood and indiscriminant collection of NTFPs by the village people and illegal cutting of timber by outsiders. As said in the earlier, in the study sites the primary forest is almost lash away by the profound cutting and destruction of forest. Considering the species richness in the area there is paramount importance to pronounce the area as protected area and to link it up with the protected area network around the glob.
Development of New corridors in the different fragmented Habitats:
The fragmentation of the habitat and deforestation has marched together with the expansion of the tea garden and agricultural practices. The most treacherous threat faced by the Phayre’s langur is the fragmentation of the habitat, so we have to come up with the canopy bridges or corridors to link up these small fragmented habitats. This could be seen as the most recommended activity for the conservation of the scattered troops of monkeys.
Initiate community conservation Practices:
It is imperative to prepare a conservation plan which would bring these areas into the protected area network; be they managed by local communities or by administrative authorities with local participation.
Conservation Education:
Conservation education can be very effective and many people understand the value of wildlife and natural habitats. This is of utmost necessary in our second study site i.e. Mishipur village where the haunting of the species is practiced. In-fact village community there in the first study site i.e. in the village near the eco-forest never used to kill the primates, but conservation education is still necessary considering the collection of forest products.
About author:
Author is currently working on the Human-wildlife conflict in the high altitude areas of Western Arunachal Pradesh with G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, North east unit as Junior Research Fellow.
He had worked on the field of wildlife conservation in many parts of Assam and North east India. His area of interest includes Community Conservation initiatives, Environmental Ethics and Mammalian and Avifaunal biodiversity. He can be reached at G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, North East Unit, Vivek Vihar, Itanagar-791113, Arunachal Pradesh (India)
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Tags: Assam University, Conservation threats., Eco-forest, Northeastern India, Phyre’s leaf monkey, primate diversity
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