European Journal of Wildlife Research

, Volume 61, Issue 3, pp 435–443 | Cite as

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

  • Raghav Saraswat
  • Anindya Sinha
  • Sindhu Radhakrishna
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

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.

Keywords

Human-wildlife conflict Northern India Human perception Rhesus macaque Crop damage Wildlife management 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

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.

References

  1. Beck B, Walkup K, Rodrigues M, Unwin S, Travis D, Stoinski T (2007) Best practice guidelines for the re-introduction of great apes. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, GlandCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Chalise MK (2001) Crop-raiding by wildlife, especially primates, and indigenous practices for crop protection in Lakwuna area, east Nepal. Asian Pri 7:4–9Google Scholar
  3. Chauhan P (2011) Man-monkey conflict in Himachal Pradesh. http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/monkey-shooting.html#cr. Accessed 1 Jul 2013
  4. Chauhan A, Pirta RS (2010) Public opinion regarding human-monkey conflict in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. J Human Ecol 30:105–109Google Scholar
  5. Conover MR (2002) Resolving human-wildlife conflicts: the science of wildlife damage management. Lewis Publishers, Boca RatonGoogle Scholar
  6. Dickman AJ (2010) Complexities of conflict: the importance of considering social factors for effectively resolving human-wildlife conflict. Anim Conser 13:458–466CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Forthman DL, Strum SC, Muchemi GM (2005) Applied conditioned taste aversion and the management and conservation of crop-raiding primates. In: Paterson JD, Wallis J (eds) Commensalism and conflict: the human-primate interface. American Society of Primatologists, Norman, pp 421–443Google Scholar
  8. Gillingham S, Lee P (2003) People and protected areas: a study of local perceptions of wildlife crop-damage conflict in an area bordering the selous game reserve, Tanzania. Oryx 37:316–325CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Hill CM (2000) A conflict of interest between people and baboons: crop raiding in Uganda. Int J Primatol 21:299–315CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Hill CM (2004) Farmers’ perspectives of conflict at the wildlife-agriculture boundary: some lessons learned from African subsistence farmers. Human Dim Wild 9:279–286CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Hockings K, Humle T (2009) Best practice guidelines for the prevention and mitigation of conflict between humans and great apes. Occas Paper IUCN Species Surviv Comm 37:41Google Scholar
  12. Imam E, Ahmad A (2013) Population status of rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) and their menace: a threat for future conservation. Inter J Environ Sci 3:1279–1289Google Scholar
  13. Imam E, Yahya HSA, Malik I (2002) A successful mass translocation of commensal rhesus monkeys Macaca mulatta in Vrindaban, India. Oryx 36:87–93CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Jardhari V, Rao P, Choudhary A (2008) Crop damage by wildlife in a Garhwal Himalayan village. Technical Report. Pune, KalpavrikshGoogle Scholar
  15. Khatun UH, Ahsan MF, Røskaft E (2013) Local people’s perceptions of crop damage by common langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) and human-langur conflict in Keshabpur of Bangladesh. Environ Natl Resour Res 3:111–126Google Scholar
  16. Knight J (2000) Introduction. In: Knight J (ed) Natural enemies: people-wildlife conflicts in anthropological perspective. Routledge, New York, pp 1–36Google Scholar
  17. Kumara HN, Kumar S, Singh M (2010) Of how much concern are the ‘Least Concern’ species? Distribution and conservation status of bonnet macaques, rhesus macaques and Hanuman langurs in Karnataka, India. Primates 51:37–42CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  18. Madden F (2004) Creating coexistence between humans and wildlife: global perspectives on local efforts to address human-wildlife conflict. Hum Dims Wild 9:247–257CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Malaivijitnond S, Vazquez Y, Hamada Y (2011) Human impact on long-tailed macaques in Thailand. In: Gumert MD, Fuentes A, Jones-Engel L (eds) Monkeys on the edge: ecology and management of long-tailed macaques and their interface with humans. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 118–156CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Malik I (2001) Monkey menace: who is responsible? In: Gupta A K (ed) Envis Bulletin: Wildl Protected Areas 1:169–171Google Scholar
  21. Mishra C (1997) Livestock depredation by large carnivores in the Indian trans-Himalaya: conflict perceptions and conservation prospects. Environ Conserv 24:338–343CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Nath CD, Sukumar R (1998) Elephant-human conflict in southern India: distribution patterns, people’s perceptions and mitigation methods. Technical report. Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre, BangaloreGoogle Scholar
  23. Naughton L, Rose R, Treves A (1999) The social dimensions of human-elephant conflict in Africa: a literature review and case studies from Uganda and Cameroon. A report to the African Elephant Specialist Group. Human-Elephant Conflict Task Force of IUCN, GlandGoogle Scholar
  24. Naughton-Treves L (1996) Uneasy neighbors: wildlife and farmers around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Ph.D. dissertation, University of FloridaGoogle Scholar
  25. Naughton-Treves L, Treves A (2005) Socio-ecological factors shaping local support for wildlife: crop-raiding by elephants and other wildlife in Africa. In: Woodroffe R, Thirgood S, Rabinowitz A (eds) People and wildlife, conflict or coexistence? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 252–277Google Scholar
  26. Ogra M (2009) Attitudes toward resolution of human–wildlife conflict among forest-dependent agriculturalists near Rajaji National Park, India. Hum Ecol 37:161–177CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Peterson ML, Birckhead JL, Leong K, Peterson MJ, Peterson TR (2010) Rearticulating the myth of human-wildlife conflict. Conser Lett 3:74–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Priston NEC (2005) Crop-raiding by Macaca ochreata brunnescens in Sulawesi: reality, perceptions and outcomes for conservation. Ph.D. Dissertation, Cambridge UniversityGoogle Scholar
  29. Priston NEC, Underdown SJ (2009) A simple method for calculating the likelihood of crop damage by primates: an epidemiological approach. Inter J Pest Manag 55:51–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Radhakrishna S, Sinha A (2011) Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: the strange case of human-macaque interactions in India. Curr Conser 4:39–40Google Scholar
  31. Rao AJ (2003) Use of nonhuman primates in biomedical research in India: current status and future prospects. In: Vaupel S (ed) International perspectives: the future of nonhuman primate resources. National Academic Press, Washington, pp 21–28Google Scholar
  32. Rao KS, Maikhuri RK, Nautiyal S, Saxena KG (2002) Crop damage and livestock depredation by wildlife: a case study from Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, India. J Environ Manag 66:317–327CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Rattan SK (2011) Managing human-macaque conflict in Himachal, India. In: Gumert MD, Fuentes A, Jones-Engel L (eds) Monkeys on the edge: ecology and management of long-tailed macaques and their interface with humans. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 283–285Google Scholar
  34. Richard AF, Goldstein SJ, Dewar RE (1989) Weed macaques: the evolutionary implications of macaque feeding ecology. Int J Primatol 10:569–594CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Riley EP (2007) The human-macaque interface: conservation implications of current and future overlap and conflict in Lore Lindu National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Am Anthr 109:473–484CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Roonwal ML, Mohnot SM (1977) Primates of south Asia: ecology, sociology and behaviour. Harvard University Press, CambridgeCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Siex KS, Struhsaker TT (1999) Ecology of the Zanzibar red colobus monkey: demographic variability and habitat stability. Inter J Primatol 20:163–192CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Sillero-Zubiri C, Switzer D (2001) Crop raiding primates: searching for alternative, humane ways to resolve conflict with farmers in Africa. People and Wildlife Initiative, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford UniversityGoogle Scholar
  39. Singh M (2000) Animal behaviour. In: Pandey J (ed) Psychology in India revisited: developments in the discipline, volume 1: physiological foundation and human cognition. Sage, New Delhi, pp 19–57Google Scholar
  40. Singh V, Thakur ML (2012) Rhesus macaque and associated problems in Himachal Pradesh, India. Tapro 4:112–116Google Scholar
  41. Singh M, Malik I, Dittus W, Sinha A, Belsare A, Walker SR, Molur S, Wright B, Lenin J, Chaudhuri S (2007) Action plan for the control of commensal non-human primates in public places. Zoo Outreach Organisation, CoimbatoreGoogle Scholar
  42. Southwick CH, Siddiqi MF (1988) Partial recovery and a new population estimate of rhesus monkey populations in India. Am J Primatol 16:187–197CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Southwick CH, Siddiqi MF (1994) Primate commensalism: the rhesus monkey in India. Revue d’Ecologie (Terre et Vie) 49:223–231Google Scholar
  44. Southwick C H, Siddiqi MF (2001) Status, conservation and management of primates in India. In: Gupta AK (ed) Envis Bulletin: Wildl Protected Areas, 1: 81–91Google Scholar
  45. Sprague DS (2002) Monkeys in the backyard: encroaching wildlife and rural communities in Japan. In: Fuentes A, Wolfe LD (eds) Primates face to face: conservation implications of human-nonhuman primate interconnections. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 254–272Google Scholar
  46. Woodroffe R, Thirgood S, Rabinowitz A (eds) (2005) People and wildlife, conflict or coexistence? Cambridge University Press, CambridgeGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Raghav Saraswat
    • 1
    • 2
  • Anindya Sinha
    • 2
    • 3
  • Sindhu Radhakrishna
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Natural ResourcesTERI UniversityNew DelhiIndia
  2. 2.National Institute of Advanced StudiesBangaloreIndia
  3. 3.Nature Conservation FoundationMysoreIndia

Personalised recommendations