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A god becomes a pest? Human-rhesus macaque interactions in Himachal Pradesh, northern India

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Abstract

Human-rhesus macaque conflict due to crop raiding is a major problem affecting northern India, particularly the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Management techniques are challenging both due to the commensal nature of the macaque as well as the culturally significant status of the species in India. Studies on wildlife crop raiding indicate that people’s reactions to crop raiding are strongly influenced by their attitudes towards the species involved and that insights into these perceptions are critical to work towards conflict-resolution measures. Hence, we investigated the attitudes and perceptions of farmers in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh, towards the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) and the impact of macaque crop raiding on their lives. We interviewed 54 farmer-families from five villages in Bilaspur and collected data on the extent of crop damage caused by wildlife species, farmers’ attitudes towards the rhesus macaque and conflict-mitigation strategies as suggested by the farmers. The results of our study indicate that farmers hold ambivalent attitudes towards the rhesus macaque and mixed opinions regarding its management.

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Notes

  1. Following Ogra (2009), we did not include caste identities in our analysis, as we do not believe that the study justified intrusion of participants’ privacy regarding this matter.

  2. In some regions of northern India, people resort to the practice of using trained common langur (Semnopithecus entellus) individuals to chase away rhesus macaques.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Forest Department, Himachal Pradesh state, for supporting this study, especially Sanjeeva Pandey, CCF (Wildlife), Shimla and Puspendra Rana, previously Divisional Forest Officer, Bilaspur. We are also grateful to Raj Mahtolia, Sanjay Sondhi, Kalpavriksh and the people of Bilaspur for their help during fieldwork. RS thanks PK Joshi, Nandini Kumar and Mala Narang Reddy of the Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi, for their guidance and encouragement during the course of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Resources, TERI University, New Delhi, India

    Raghav Saraswat

  2. National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India

    Raghav Saraswat, Anindya Sinha & Sindhu Radhakrishna

  3. Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, India

    Anindya Sinha

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  1. Raghav Saraswat
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  2. Anindya Sinha
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  3. Sindhu Radhakrishna
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Correspondence to Sindhu Radhakrishna.

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Communicated by R. White

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Saraswat, R., Sinha, A. & Radhakrishna, S. A god becomes a pest? Human-rhesus macaque interactions in Himachal Pradesh, northern India. Eur J Wildl Res 61, 435–443 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-015-0913-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-015-0913-9

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