Interactions of lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) with non-primates in the Western Ghats, India

Primates and non-primates inhabiting tropical forests may interact with each other since they coexist in the same communities. Primates usually interact with their prey, predators, competitors and neutral species. Using 'all occurrence' sampling, we have studied inter-specific interactions of lion-tailed macaques with non-primate species found in their habitat. We observed that the percentage of total time spent on interactions with non-primates was less than 1. Also, the percentage of total time spent in interacting with competitors, predators and neutral species was less than 0.5. The lack of predation pressure and lack of opportunities for mixed-species associations for increasing foraging efficiency appear to be the major reasons for the absence of interactions with nonprimates. By comparing with studies from other primate habitat regions, we observed that primates in South Asia interact much lesser with non-primates than those in South America and Africa. A previous study showed that the interactions of lion-tailed macaques even with other primate species in the Western Ghats are less than expected by chance.