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Lion-tailed macaque on IUCN’s endangered list
Why is it in News?
- Habitat loss puts lion-tailed macaque on IUCN’s endangered list for sixth time.
Lion tailed macaque:
- It is a primate endemic to small and severely fragmented rainforests of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
- According to IUCN, the population may decline by 20% in the next 25 years due to reasons, including hunting, road kills and habitat loss.
- Its status remained ‘endangered’ since 1996.
- It has silver-white mane which surrounds the head from the cheeks down to its chin, which gives this monkey its German name Bartaffe - "beard ape".
- With a head-body length of 42 to 61 cm and a weight of 2 to 10 kg, it ranks among the smaller macaques.
- The life expectancy in the wild is approximately 20 years, while in captivity is up to 30 years.
- t is a good climber and spends a majority of its life in the upper canopy of tropical moist evergreen forests.
- Males weigh up to 15 kg, twice as much as the smaller females.
