Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2021 | 13(9): 19203–19211
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7073.13.9.19203-19211
#7073 | Received 12 January 2021 | Final
received 12 July 2021 | Finally accepted 01 August 2021
Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta
(Mammalia: Primates: Cercopithecidae) in a
human-modified landscape: population, activity budget, and societal perceptions
in Bangladesh
Sufia Akter
Neha 1, Mohammad Ashraf Ul Hasan 2,
Mohammad Abdul Baki 3 & Subrina Sehrin4
1–4 Department of Zoology, Jagannath University, 9-10 Chittaranjan
Ave, Dhaka 1100, Bangladesh.
1 International Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Land Studies, International
Affairs, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, 79409, USA.
2 Department of Biological
Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, 79409, USA.
1 neha.jnu463@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 ashrafulhasan.jnu403@gmail.com, 3 mabaki@gmail.com,
4 subrinazool@gmail.com
Abstract: Rhesus Macaques are widely
distributed and ecologically diverse primate species that attract special focus
from the research and conservation approaches. We studied population, activity
budget, and societal perceptions of Rhesus Macaque at Old Dhaka City,
Bangladesh from March 2015 to February 2016. Total count was used to determine
the group size and composition. Daily activity budgets of Rhesus Macaques were
studied using scan sampling method. Questionnaire survey was conducted to know
the attitudes of local people towards monkey conservation in the area. Seven
groups with a total of 169 individuals were recorded. The population density
was 15.5 individuals/ km² and group size ranged from 8 to 63 individuals. Rhesus Macaque spent most of their time in
resting (38.5%) followed by feeding (25.7%), moving (18.4%), grooming (12.8%),
and playing or object manipulation (4.6%). There was a significant variation in
each behavioral activity among the age-sex classes.
Questionnaire survey revealed that property damage was the main problem created
by the monkeys. A significant majority of people (83.4%) held a positive
outlook toward conservation of this species. Variables such as religion,
education, and occupation of the respondents significantly influenced their
opinion about conservation. These findings have implications for not only
conservation and management interventions of Rhesus Macaque but also helpful
for minimizing human-monkey interactions in urban areas.
Keywords: Behavioral activity, conservation,
human-primate interactions, management interventions, questionnaire survey,
urban landscape.
Editor: Mewa Singh, University of Mysore,
Mysuru, India. Date of publication: 26 August
2021 (online & print)
Citation: Neha, S.A., M.A.U. Hasan, M.A. Baki & S. Sehrin (2021). Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta
(Mammalia: Primates: Cercopithecidae) in a
human-modified landscape: population, activity budget, and societal perceptions
in Bangladesh. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(9): 19203–19211. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7073.13.9.19203-19211
Copyright: © Neha et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: This research did
not receive any grants from
funding agencies in the public or non-profit organizations.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Author details: Sufia Akter Neha: Graduate Student and Research
Assistant, International Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Land Studies,
International Affairs, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA. Mohammad
Ashraf Ul Hasan: Graduate Student and Teaching
Assistant, Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock,
Texas 79409, USA. Mohammad Abdul Baki:
Professor, Department of Zoology, Jagannath
University, 9-10 Chittaranjan Avenue, Dhaka 1100,
Bangladesh. Subrina Sehrin: Assistant Professor,
Department of Zoology, Jagannath University, 9-10 Chittaranjan Avenue, Dhaka 1100, Bangladesh.
Author contributions: SAN: conceptualization,
investigation, methodology, resources, writing-original draft, formal analysis,
validation, writing-review and editing, visualization. MAUH: conceptualization,
investigation, methodology, resources, data curation, formal analysis,
validation, writing-review and editing, visualization. MAB: writing-review and
editing, supervision. SS: supervision
Acknowledgements: We express our sincere gratitude
to the Department of Zoology, Jagannath University,
Dhaka, for granting us the permission to conduct this research. We thank Dr. Ummay Habiba Khatun for her
valuable suggestions and guidance throughout the period of this study. We are
grateful to our peers for their incredible support and encouragement during the
fieldwork.
Introduction
Rhesus Macaques Macaca mulatta are
one of the world’s most widespread, abundant, and ecologically adaptive primate
species. M. mulatta is distributed in
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Afghanistan, southern
China, and some neighboring areas (Green 1978). In
Bangladesh, they are found in substantial numbers in a wide variety of habitats
including semi-evergreen and evergreen forests in the northeastern
and southeastern regions, moist deciduous forests in
the central region, and Sundarbans mangrove forest in the south-west (Hasan et
al. 2013; Hasan et al. 2016). Populations of macaques also inhabit human
dominated landscapes in urban settings, roads, canal banks, villages, temples,
and shrines (Southwick & Siddiqi 1994; Maestripieri
& Hoffman 2012; Hasan et al. 2013; Jaman &
Huffman 2013). They depend mainly on anthropogenic food sources and play a
vital role in the culture and religion of some communities (Southwick &
Siddiqi 1994). Old Dhaka city is one of the historical sites of Rhesus Macaque
distribution in Bangladesh. Rhesus Macaques are considered as non-seasonal
breeders and are often termed as ‘weed species’ in response to their capability
of living in densely populated urban habitats (Teas et al. 1980; Richard et al.
1989; Southwick et al. 2005). This species is categorized as Vulnerable (IUCN
Bangladesh 2015) and a total of 251 individuals in seven groups were reported
in urban areas of Dhaka city (Hasan et al. 2013). Assessing the population
status in urban landscape is necessary to understand the ecological needs of
Rhesus Macaque and developing effective conservation strategies (Malaivijitnond et al. 2005; Lwanga et al. 2011).
An important feature in studies
of the behavioral ecology of a species is to evaluate
the percentage of time spent in different activities throughout a day or year
(Kabir 2002). Activity budgets is a method of quantifying behavior
of how animals allocate their time in various activities that are crucial for
survival, reproduction, and might help in the understanding of life history
traits and environmental adaptations of animals (Bernstein 1968; Rodway 1998).
Time is a limited resource that eventually impacts the behavior
of various species (Pollard & Blumstein 2008). Primates usually change
their daily behavior in response to ecological and
social factors to ensure their survival (Jaman &
Huffman 2008; Okekedunu et al. 2014). Numerous
studies have investigated that activity budgets and feeding behavior
vary in response to diet, habitat structure, distribution, and availability of
food sources and individual requirements (Peres 1993; Passamani
1998; Neha et al. 2020). Activity budgets for primates thriving in the human
altered habitats are different from those in their natural habitat (Krebs &
Davies 1993). Rhesus Macaques are one of the primates that are greatly
influenced by human activities in manipulating their habitat (Hambali et al. 2012). We selected a group of Rhesus
Macaques living commensally with humans where these macaques are
opportunistically omnivorous, obtaining provisioned food along with a few
garden plants from nearby public parks, to know how a species adapts under
human-modified environmental pressures.
Primate populations are declining
rapidly because of the devastation from habitat change and shrinkage of primary
habitats, competition for food and space, hunting, pet trade, and body parts
for traditional medicines (Wolfheim 1983; Mittermeier
1986; da Silva et al. 2016; Amano et al. 2021). However, expansion of human
settlements, destruction of natural habitats and scarcity of food are the major
challenges for the urban Rhesus Macaques. The severe ecological alterations as
well as close interaction of macaques with humans have led to negative
interactions. For example, provisioning food for the macaques in temples and
the tendency of co-inhabiting with humans in urban settlements causes negative
interactions between humans and primates (Beisner et
al. 2015). Macaques often destroy home gardens and fruit trees in urban areas,
seek shelter on the rooftops, and inside factory buildings causing damage to
human properties. Also, they frighten people with a furious snarl, snatch away
food items, and sometimes bite people. In contrast, they are occasionally
electrocuted while crossing the utility lines, injured, and even sometimes
killed by the residents. In many countries, monkeys have gained protection
under traditional beliefs and religious context and are provisioned, protected
and worshipped by the local people and temple authorities (Strum 1994). For
instance, in Thailand and Japan, though monkeys are fed in a temple or in a
village (Knight 1999), they are killed in some adjacent fields (Eudey 1994). Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the
attitude of local people towards Rhesus Macaques which aid our understanding of
human-monkey co-existence and be helpful to reduce the negative interactions.
Studies on Rhesus Macaque in
Bangladesh have focused on population, distribution, competition among
sympatric primates and genetic variation (Green 1978; Gittins 1980; Oppenheimer
et al. 1983; Feeroz et al. 1995; Sultana 2012; Hasan
et al. 2013, 2016; Naher et al. 2016; Neha et al.
2021). However, no studies have been published relating to activity budget and
opinions of local people about the conservation of Rhesus Macaques. The present
study therefore focused on the group size and composition, activity budget, and
societal perceptions of Rhesus Macaques. The aims of this study were to: (i) assess the population of urban Rhesus Macaque in Old
Dhaka City, (ii) evaluate how they budget their time in different activities,
and (iii) explore the attitudes of local people toward the conservation of
macaques. This study is important to increase our knowledge on the ecology and behavior of Rhesus Macaque that occupy the human altered
environment which leads to effective management strategies for their
conservation in the area.
Materials
and methods
Study area
Dhaka City is the capital of
Bangladesh and is primarily divided into two parts- the historic Old Dhaka and
New Dhaka. The study was carried out in the Old Dhaka City (23.7220N
& 90.3870E, Figure 1) from March 2015 to February 2016, where
Rhesus Macaques co-exist with humans in proximity. It is situated on the banks
of the Buriganga River and covers an area of
approximately 5 km2 (Sultana 2012). The buildings and other
constructions are ancient and are at high risk of cumbling
down. The buildings are very close to one another that makes the roads narrow
and congested to support large population of monkeys. The main planted trees in
the parks and gardens include neem Azadirachta
indica, white plumeria Plumeria
sp., guava Psidium guajava, mango Mangifera indica,
coconut Cocos nucifera, blackberry Syzygium
cumini, jackfruit Artocarpus
heterophyllus, and jujube Ziziphus
mauritiana. The highest temperature at the study
site was 39 °C in May, and lowest was 12 °C in January. The highest rainfall
was recorded in August 2015 (337 mm) and lowest in March 2016 (54 mm).
Population survey
Total counts were used to survey
monkey population (Southwick et al. 1961; Bibby et al. 1992) from dawn to dusk
as the study area was small that could be fully covered. Since Rhesus Macaque
is the only primate living in the area, the species is easy to identify. Survey
was done from all the accessible roads and lanes. Roadways and pathways were
walked on foot at a pace of 1 km per hour. Observers paced along roads stopping
every 200 m to explore the area by observing visual and auditory cues. When a
monkey group was sighted, we recorded the information including their
coordinates, group size and composition, age-sex classes, and individual
characteristics like physical markings. Double counting was performed to
minimize the bias in identifying age-sex of the groups. We offered provisioned
food (bananas, breads, and nuts) to attract the monkeys in order to ease the
counting. We also counted while respective authority offered provisioned foods
in temples and factories. Individuals were classified based on their morphology
(Stanford 1991).
Behavioral sampling
Four age-sex classes of monkeys—an
adult male, an adult female, a juvenile, and an infant—were studied from 0600 h
to 1800 h for 5–6 days in each month, using instantaneous scan sampling method.
These focal individuals were observed for 5 min followed by a 5 min break
(Altman 1974). Two observers (Sufia Akter Neha and Mohammad Ashraf Ul
Hasan) recorded the behavioral data. The first
observer recorded the behavior of an individual of a
group, and at the same time, the second observer observed another individual of
different age-sex class of the same group. We made a total of 4,235 scans to
record the five behavioral activities- resting,
feeding, moving, grooming, and playing or object manipulation. Resting is
defined when an individual desists all sorts of movements including sleeping or
looking about. Feeding includes handling of food, manipulating, chewing, and
swallowing food items. Moving is when a monkey travels from one place to other
and changes its position. Grooming means removing or scratching dirt and other
objects from hair or skin for the hygienic benefits in the form of grooming
itself or being groomed. Playing behavior includes
picking up stones, sticks, and other objects to manipulate them with hands, for
example, hanging on tree branches, jumping, and mounting on the back of the
mother as a means of non-threatening context which enables the social
development within a group.
Questionnaire survey
A structured questionnaire survey
was conducted to collect data on attitudes of local people toward the
conservation of Rhesus Macaque (Khatun et al. 2013; Ahsan & Uddin 2014).
The interviewers visited the local residences, shops, nearby temples who have
regularly encountered Rhesus Macaques and questions were administered
individually to all the participants. In total, 210 respondents were
interviewed representing various groups like shopkeepers, devotees, students,
and housewives. Demographic (age, sex, religion, education) and socio-economic
(occupation) profile of the respondents were incorporated while asking the
questions. We considered the respondents who had attended school up to the 10th
grade or more as educated and those who had attended school below the 10th
grade as less-educated.
Data analysis
Chi square tests were performed
to find out differences of age-sex classes in the groups as well as to assess
the variations in the response of the interviewees. Kruskal-Wallis one-way
ANOVA was employed to compare time spent for age-sex classes in each of the behavioral activities. To substantiate the Kruskal-Wallis
tests, post hoc pair-wise comparisons were used to see the variation of time
spent for each behavioral activity between age-sex
classes in the group. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, v. 20) was
used to analyze data, considering a p value ≤0.05 to
be statistically significant.
Results
Group structure
A total of 169 individuals were
encountered in seven groups. The largest group (63 individuals) was recorded in
Sadhana Awshadhalay and the smallest group (8
individuals) in Banagram (Table 1). Group size ranged
8–63 individuals (mean 24.14±18.49, n= 7). Adults comprised 21.6% male and
48.15% female while non-adults comprised 25.93% juvenile and 4.32% infant of
the population. The population density of Rhesus Macaque was 15.5 individuals/
km². The average ratio between adult males and adult females was 1:2.23, adults
and non-adults was 1:0.5, and adult females and infants was 1:0.18. There was
no significant variation in the proportion of adult males and adult females (χ2=
1.96, df= 6, p= 0.92), adult females and infants (χ2=
1.11, df= 6, p= 0.98), adult females and juveniles (χ2=
5.01, df= 6, p= 0.54), and juveniles and infants (χ2=
1.72, df= 6, p= 0.94) among the groups.
Daily time budget
Rhesus Macaque spent most of
their activity in resting (38.5% of the total scans, sd=
+2.59, n= 1,631), followed by feeding (25.7%, sd= +2.48,
n= 1,088), moving (18.4%, sd= +1.86, n= 779),
grooming (12.8%, sd= +3.06, n= 542) and playing
(4.6%, sd= +1.22, n= 195). Behavioral
activities among the age-sex classes of Rhesus Macaque varied during the study
period (Table 2). A post hoc pair-wise comparison showed that adult females
spent more time resting and grooming than adult males (p< 0.001, same
value), juveniles and infants (p< 0.001, same value for all comparisons, respectively;
Figure 2). But adult males spent more time feeding than adult females,
juveniles, and infants (p <0.001, p= 0.036, p= 0.014, respectively). Adult
males also spent more time moving than adult females, juveniles and infants (p
<0.001, p= 0.026, p <0.001, respectively). Infants spent more time
playing or being engaged in object manipulation than juveniles, adult females,
and adult males (p= 0.042, p= 0.0011, p <0.001, respectively).
Demographic and socioeconomic
profile of the respondents
A total of 210 respondents were
interviewed during the questionnaire survey, of which 111 (53%) were men and 99
(47%) were women. The age of the respondents varied between 18 and 75 years.
Hindus represented 56% of the respondents and Muslims represented 44%.
Furthermore, 39.5% were educated, while 60.5% were less-educated. With respect
to occupation, 31% were shopkeepers, 27% housewives, 23% students, and 19%
devotees. The demographic and socioeconomic status did not vary significantly
among the respondents in study areas concerning gender (χ2= 8.71, df= 6, p= 0.074), age class (χ2= 2.52, df= 6, p= 0.421), and education (χ2= 5.37, df= 6, p= 0.274) however, differed significantly in
relation to religion (χ2= 13.59, df= 6, p=
0.005), and occupation (χ2= 18.92, df= 6,
p= 0.001).
Societal perceptions toward
Rhesus Macaques
Based on the questionnaire
survey, on an average 55% people in the city area claimed property damage
(e.g., entering residential buildings, damaging rooftop gardening, and
disconnecting electricity, satellite, & telephone cable) was the main
problem created by monkeys, whereas nearly 40% people believe food and cloth
stealing were the serious problems. In contrast, a few people (6.5%) agreed
that monkey bite was another problem faced by the local people (Table 3). To
minimize monkey menace, many people (61.4%) threw stones, while roughly one
quarter of the respondents (26.2%) used fence and iron grills and more than one
in 10 people (12.4%) struck them with a stick. Just over half of the people
(56.2%) stated that the monkey population has decreased in Old Dhaka City,
however, more than two-fifths of the respondents (43.8%) did not agree with
this. Around half of the local people (52.7%) believed that habitat loss was
the main threat to monkey, whereas just under a third of the respondents
(32.9%) considered food scarcity was one of the major threats. Electrocution
was also reported by less than a fifth of the respondents (14.4%). A large
amount of people (62.5%) from local area have had religious attachments with
monkeys, especially the Hindu communities, but less than two-fifths of the
people (37.5%) did not feel this way. Three quarters of people (75.8%) in the
city area asserted that the government should take necessary steps by shifting
the monkeys to other places and restrict some places for them, while rest of
the respondents (24.2%) argued to keep them where they are now.
Despite several problems created
by monkeys, a significant majority of people (83.4%) had a positive attitude
toward the conservation of monkeys. The variation in respondent attitude
towards conservation of Rhesus Macaque were significantly explained by three of
the five independent variables: (1) religion (p= 0.0001), (2) education (p=
0.002), and (3) occupation (p= 0.014) (Table 4). Hindus and educated people
supported conservation and considered monkeys to be a part of the local culture
and heritage and believed that the species should be safeguarded for future
generations. Additionally, students and devotees had a higher opinion of monkey
conservation than their corresponding counterparts (Table 4). They felt that
monkeys resembled human beings and had recreational and aesthetic values.
Discussion
Rhesus
Macaque at Dhaka City has shown significant variation in terms of population
size and composition over the last 40 years. Akonda
(1976) found 11 groups of Rhesus Macaque comprised of 196 individuals which
increased to 229 individuals in 11 troops by Oppenheimer et al. (1983). Further
a decrease in population was observed to 196 individuals in 11 groups by Feeroz et al. (1995). After a long gap of 17 years, Sultana
(2012) reported 178 individuals in 10 groups and Hasan et al. (2013) recorded
251 individuals in seven groups. The present study identified seven groups with
a total of 169 individuals. The reason for such fluctuations might be due to
the different study methods or the area considered for the study. Moreover,
demographic trends of the population are interconnected with habitat structure
which influence the response of that population (Green 2003). Still, the
possible reasons for the decline of the Rhesus Macaque population in this study
area could be the consequences of habitat loss, felling of food trees,
electrocution, and human disturbances. The largest group was found in Sadhana Awshadhalay area (17 adult males, 28 adult females, 14
juveniles, and 4 infants) as the Rhesus Macaques in this area mostly depend on
the provisioning of food supplied by the local people. Visitors and factory
people also provide shelter to these macaques. In contrast, the smallest group
we recorded was in Banagram (1 adult male, 4 adult
females, 2 juveniles, and 1 infant) which was due to the fact that the people of
that area were unfriendly toward macaques and there was a lack of provisional
food resources. Group size ranged from 8 to 63 individuals that differed from
other studies: 4 to 59 individuals (Sultana 2012); 24 to 59 individuals (Hasan
et al. 2013). This is because of intra-specific variation in group size relying
on history of the group and occasional dispersal into the other groups (Menard
2004; Md-Zain et al. 2010). However, the number of females is higher than their
male counterpart in each group. This could be because female monkeys are
philopatric, remaining in the group throughout their life, while males may
depart their natal families upon reaching maturity (Hasan et al. 2013).
The
proportion of time spent on behavioral activities
varied between populations of macaques due to habitat differences and age-sex
specific physiological factors (Brent & Veira
2002; Jaman & Huffman 2008). We found the most
observed daily activity from the study group was resting and feeding (38.5% and
25.7%, respectively). This study was supported by Jaman
& Huffman (2013), that showed Rhesus Macaque spent 46.1% and 22.4% of their
active time on resting and feeding compared to other activities. Jaman & Huffman (2008) also found that resting time was
longer in captive Japanese Macaques. Time spent resting and feeding in urban
Rhesus Macaque was longer due to regular supply of higher quality provisioned
food, for example, fruits, vegetables, nuts, breads, biscuits, and chick-peas
offered by the local people and visitors. Additionally, they ate from plant
sources such as young leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, shoots, and insects. Due
to limited access to natural foraging sites, the urban macaques frequently
rested after taking provisioned food by adopting lower energy search strategy
to meet their metabolic requirements of a smaller amount of food in a limited
amount of time (El Alami et al. 2012; Jaman & Huffman 2013). Rhesus Macaques commonly rested
on the branches of trees, the roof of the buildings, graveyards and parks.
Moving was the behavior recorded to have the third
highest proportion in this study which is inconsistent with other macaque
studies observed elsewhere (Hambali et al. 2012;
Md-Zain et al. 2010; Okekedunu et al. 2014). This may
be because monkeys in forest settings were mainly frugivorous, occupied more
space and thus, spent most of their time searching for fruits in comparison
with monkeys living commensally with humans. When the energetic demands were
met, provisioned Rhesus Macaque were engaged in grooming to strengthen their
social bonds-similar to other groups conducted in India and Nepal (Teas et al.
1975; Malik & Southwick 1988). Playing is a part of learning the ways of
social relations and performing actions more successfully (Kipper & Todt 2002; Naples & Rothschild 2015). Playing with
objects and water, pulling each other’s tail and swinging on the tree branches
have been observed in the study groups.
Our result
showed differences in activity pattern of Rhesus Macaque among age-sex classes.
Adult males spent more time feeding and moving in comparison with the rest of
the group. The plausible reason for this might be that adult males undertook
raids on houses, gardens and garbage bins and took over the provisioned food,
continued to feed voraciously while leaving the leftover food for others.
Juveniles and infants also fed more because they require more nutrients for
their development and maturation (Watanuki &
Nakayama 1993). The adult males are physically dominant over others and were
observed moving frequently to protect their territory from neighboring
groups. Adult females spent more time resting and grooming. Similar results
have been reported by Jaman & Huffman (2013). As
feeding is inversely related to resting, thus spending less time feeding which
allowed them to rest for a longer period of time. Moreover, adult females were
seen to groom other females and infants after feeding and while resting.
Mothers often groom their infants which strengthen the kinship among them.
Besides, subordinate females usually groom higher ranking adult females in
order to maintain hierarchy. This finding is related to those conducted by
Md-Zain et al. (2010) and Hambali et al. (2012). It
is also found that females groom males after mating, which has been observed in
other primates such as marmosets where male marmosets were groomed by females
in favor of sharing food and to gain protection
(Lazaro-Perea et al. 2004). Playing behavior is commonly performed by juveniles and infants. In
addition, mothers of Rhesus Macaques were also observed to play with their
babies. Females often play with their young as a means of practicing survival
related activities as well as keeping them safe from the predators (Hambali et al. 2012; Naples & Rothschild 2015).
Our study
from the questionnaire survey revealed that the majority of the people had
positive attitudes towards conservation of the Rhesus Macaque. Similar results
have also been reported for other primate studies (Khatun et al. 2012; Hasan et
al. 2018). The attitude towards Rhesus Macaque conservation varied
significantly among the respondents of different religion, education and
occupation. Religious attachment of the Hindu community with Rhesus Macaques
influenced their inclination to conservation. This is because they consider monkeys
as sacred animals to be conserved. Therefore, cultural and religious sympathy
can increase tolerance and conservation of primates in rural and urban areas (Pirta et al. 1997; Hill 1998). Educated people were more
compliant with supporting conservation of monkeys. This is due to the fact that
the educated people who belonged to a higher land-holding status were less
concerned about the monkey menace as their economic status was secure compared
to the lesser-educated or low land-holding people. Khatun et al. (2012) also
noticed that the positive attitude of local people in Keshabpur,
Bangladesh towards conservation of common langurs were associated with
land-holding status of the respondents. It was observed that temple authorities
especially devotees and people who have visited the temple provided food to
macaques and offer shelter in the temple premises. Moreover, young people and
students were also seen to feed macaques from their window and balcony, which
may be regarded as a popular pastime. These findings suggest that the factors
influencing the local people’s attitudes are crucial for the conservation of
Rhesus Macaques in this area.
Table 1. Group composition and
age-sex ratio of Rhesus Macaque in Old Dhaka City.
Monkey groups |
Adult male |
Adult female |
Juvenile |
Infant |
population size |
AM:AF |
AM:JU |
AM:IN |
AF:JU |
AF:IN |
JU:IN |
Sadhana Awshadhalay |
17 |
28 |
14 |
4 |
63 |
1:1.65 |
1:0.82 |
1:0.24 |
1:0.5 |
1:0.14 |
1:0.29 |
Rabidaspara Lane |
6 |
14 |
4 |
2 |
26 |
1:2.33 |
1:0.67 |
1:0.33 |
1:0.29 |
1:0.14 |
1:0.5 |
Uttar Musondi |
3 |
9 |
11 |
2 |
25 |
1:3 |
1:3.67 |
1:0.67 |
1:1.22 |
1:0.22 |
1:0.18 |
Radhika Mohan Bosak Lane |
4 |
10 |
5 |
3 |
22 |
1:2.5 |
1:1.25 |
1:0.75 |
1:0.5 |
1:0.3 |
1:0.6 |
Suritola |
2 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
1:3.5 |
1:1.5 |
1:0.5 |
1:0.43 |
1:0.14 |
1:0.33 |
Tanti Bazar-Shakhari Bazar
|
2 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
12 |
1:3 |
1:1.5 |
1:0.5 |
1:0.5 |
1:0.17 |
1:0.33 |
Banagram |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
1:4 |
1:2 |
1:1 |
1:0.5 |
1:0.25 |
1:0.5 |
Overall |
35 |
78 |
42 |
14 |
169 |
1:2.23 |
1:1.2 |
1:0.4 |
1:0.54 |
1:0.18 |
1:0.33 |
χ2 value |
|
|
|
|
|
1.96 |
5.52 |
2.52 |
5.01 |
1.11 |
1.72 |
p value |
|
|
|
|
|
0.92 |
0.48 |
0.87 |
0.54 |
0.98 |
0.94 |
AM—Adult male | AF—Adult female | J—Juvenile |
IN—Infant | *—Significant at p ≤ 0.05
Table 2. Kruskal-Wallis one-way
analysis of variance output for age-sex classes in each behavioral
activities of Rhesus Macaque.
|
Activities |
H |
df |
p |
Age-sex class |
Resting |
43.16 |
3 |
< 0.001 |
Feeding |
16.32 |
3 |
< 0.01 |
|
Moving |
21.71 |
3 |
< 0.01 |
|
Grooming |
39.58 |
3 |
< 0.001 |
|
Playing |
24. 05 |
3 |
< 0.001 |
Table 3. Perception of
respondents towards Rhesus Macaque at Old Dhaka City.
|
Variables |
Categories |
Response % |
1 |
What problems do you face by monkeys? |
Damage to property Food/cloth stealing Monkey bites |
54.6 38.9 6.5 |
2 |
How do you mitigate conflict with monkey? |
Strike with stick Throw stone Use of fence/grills |
12.4 61.4 26.2 |
3 |
Do you observe any changes in monkey population? |
Increase Decrease |
43.8 56.2 |
4 |
What is the threat to Rhesus Macaque? |
Loss of habitat Food scarcity Electrocution |
52.7 32.9 14.4 |
5 |
Do the local people show religious sympathy? |
Yes No |
62.5 37.5 |
6 |
How do we need to initiate conservation activities? |
Keep them as it is now Restrict some places for them |
24.2 75.8 |
7 |
What is your opinion towards monkey conservation in
your area? |
Positive Negative |
83.4 16.6 |
Table 4. Respondents viewpoint to
conservation of Rhesus Macaque in the study area.
Variables |
Attitude towards conservation |
Chi-square test |
|||
Positive % (n) |
Negative % (n) |
χ2 |
Df |
p |
|
Gender |
|
|
0.52 |
1 |
0.71 |
Male |
88.4 (98) |
11.6 (13) |
|||
Female |
91.2 (90) |
8.8 (9) |
|||
Age class |
|
|
0.26 |
1 |
0.58 |
Adult |
90.6 (99) |
9.4 (10) |
|||
Young |
86.1 (87) |
13.9 (14) |
|||
Religion |
|
|
14.67 |
1 |
0.0001 |
Muslim |
72.3 (67) |
27.7 (25) |
|||
Hindu |
85.5 (101) |
14.5 (17) |
|||
Education |
|
|
11.35 |
1 |
0.002 |
Educated |
92.3 (77) |
7.7 (6) |
|||
Less-educated |
74.6 (95) |
25.4 (32) |
|||
Occupation |
|
|
8.78 |
3 |
0.014 |
Shopkeepers |
67.7 (44) |
32.3 (21) |
|||
Housewives |
73.7 (42) |
26.3 (15) |
|||
Students |
81.2 (39) |
18.8 (9) |
|||
Devotees |
90.0 (36) |
10.0 (4) |
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