The Lion-tailed Macaque; An endangered primate found only in India

The Lion-tailed Macaque

Found in the western ghats in Southern India, the lion-tailed macaque is among one of the most threatened primates.

Found only in India, the most unique feature of these primates is the Greyish-white mane surrounding their face. The name Lion-tailed comes from a black tuft at the end of their tail which is very similar to that of Lions. They usually live till 20-30 years of age, and feed on insects, seeds, fruits, etc.

They are endangered because of their gradually diminishing habitat, mostly because of coffee and tea plantations, and because of human settlement. Since they tend to avoid humans and choose not to be near any human settlement, the areas where they can thrive have reduced considerably, and that has impacted their population.

However, the good news is, because of the efforts to protect these primates, their numbers have grown in the recent past and hopefully it will improve. These photos are courtesy Soma.

You may want to visit the The Lion-tailed Macaque page of Wikipedia to know more about these primates.

You may find this post on endangered apes in India interesting as well.

The Lion-tailed Macaque

The Lion-tailed Macaque, in its natural habitat