Lion-tailed Monkey

Lion-tailed Monkey

Lion-tailed monkey (scientific name: Macaca slienus, English name: lion-tailed macaque), also known as lion-tailed macaque, is an old world monkey living in the Western Ghats and South India. The fur is dark brown or black. It is characterized by a silvery white mane around the head. The face is glabrous and black. The head to tail is 40-70 cm long and weighs 3-8.3 kg. The tail is medium-length, about 25 cm long, with a black end, like a lion's tail. Male monkeys have more developed tails than female monkeys. The gestation period is about 6 months, and the baby monkey needs 1 year of care. Female monkeys are sexually mature at 4 years of age, and male monkeys are 6 years old. They live about 20 years, and captives can reach 30 years.

Name	Lion-tailed monkey	Mesh	Primates
Latin name	ShIwei Mihou	Section	Macacaceae
Nickname	Lion-tailed macaque	Genus	Macaca
Boundary	Animal world	Distribution area	South India

Morphological characteristics

Length 40-70 cm, tail length 24-39 cm, weight 3-8.3 kg, female is slightly smaller than male, head has gray-white mane, brown or slightly black from below neck, shiny body hair, lion-tailed macaque is energetic The forearm is as long as the leg, and there are tufts at the end of the tail. Because the mane and tail around the face are like a lion's tail, it is named (in fact, it is more appropriate to call it "lion-headed monkey").

Habitat

Lion-tailed macaque (Lion-tailed macaque or Wanderoo, Wanderu, Wanderoe) inhabits the alpine rainforest environment at an altitude of 1500~2500 meters.

Lifestyle

Lion-tailed macaques are good at climbing and jumping. They can swim and imitate human movements. Most of them live in groups, generally 30 to 50 in a group, each group ranging from 4 to 34, an average of 15 to 20, a large group can reach about 200, led by an adult male; day and night activities, most of the day Inhabits the canopy of the tree and occasionally goes down to the ground; the nature is more irritable and the territory consciousness is strong. It lives mainly in the very small mountains of southern India.

Lion-tailed macaques live in gregarious life. The males claim that the monkey is the leader and is responsible for maintaining order. The living area includes forests, plains, mountains and cliffs. Rhesus monkeys are mostly on the ground during the day, and retreat to the tree to sleep at night. They mainly walk with their limbs, but they can also walk or run with their hind legs, especially when holding something or food in their claws. When they are in contact with each other, they will make various sounds, and they will make gestures and pose in different poses to express their own meaning. Combing each other is also an important social activity for them.

The main food of the lion-tail monkey is mango, jackfruit and other fruits. It also eats flowers, seeds, young leaves, mushrooms, lichens, moss, snails, insects, bird eggs, frogs, lizards, small mammals and so on.

Lion-tailed monkeys do not have a fixed breeding season, but they are concentrated between December and February of the following year. One male matches many females. The gestation period for females is about 5 to 6 months. Each litter has a baby and the little one is two months old. The color turns into an adult type, the lactation period is about 1 year, independent at 4 years old, the female is mature at about 5 years old, the male is 8 years old, the life span is about 19 to 30 years, and can live to 38 years under captive conditions.

Distribution range

Lion-tailed monkeys are mainly distributed in the Western Ghats (Western Ghats) in southwestern India.

Population status

IUCN believes that there are only about 2,500 lion-tail monkeys in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. They are among the most threatened and rarest primates. Their distribution areas are more and more scattered due to the expansion of agricultural land, the construction of reservoirs and human development. They do not live, forage or pass through plantations. The destruction of their habitat seriously affects their numbers.

From 1977 to 1980, the conservation of lion-tail monkeys became the focus of environmental protection in India. From 1993 to 1996, there were 14 groups of lion-tail monkeys in Silent Valley National Park. In addition, there are 32 groups of lion-tailed monkeys in Sei Xi, which are the northernmost group. In 2007, it was estimated that there were about 250 of them in Theni District of Tamil Nadu, and they have never been found in this district in the past. Many zoos have participated in breeding programs to help protect lion-tail monkeys, and it is estimated that there are 368 in the zoo.

Protection level

Excessive deforestation and continuous expansion of farmland have seriously damaged the living environment of lion-tail monkeys. There are only about 3,000 to 3,500, of which about 500 are housed in zoos, which is the most endangered among the 22 species of macaques in the world. Species. The IUCN Red List (World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species) ranks it as endangered and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).