Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
11
India's rhesus populations:
Protectionism versus conservation
management
C h a r l e s H . S o u t h w i c k
and M. Farooq Siddiqi
Introduction
The rhesus monkey
(Macaca mulatta)
population of India has long been one of
the classic non-human primate populations of the world. Scientific field stud-
ies of abundance were not undertaken until the 1950s, but leading natural-
ists in India estimated their numbers in the millions “in the United Provinces
alone [Uttar Pradesh] the monkey population- in my opinion-is not less than
10 million…” (Corbett,
1953
). Other naturalists referred to “vast hordes of
rhesus roam large parts of India…” (Sanderson, 1957). Rhesus were abundant
in forests, agricultural areas, villages, roadsides, parks, temples, and limited
areas in towns and cities.
Although the truly sacred monkey of classical Hinduism is the Common or
Hanuman langur, rhesus are also considered sacred animals, representatives of
the Monkey God, Hanuman. Hanuman holds a high status in Hindu religion
since the Monkey God played a key role in the reunion of Rama, the incar-
nation of Lord Vishnu, and his beloved wife, Sita. Sita had been kidnapped
by the Demon King, Ravana, and taken to the island of Lanka (Ceylon). The
defeat of Ravana by Hanuman and his troop of monkeys and reunion of Rama
and Sita symbolized the victory of Good over Evil. This is a central concept in
Hindu philosophy, and still a very common belief today. It is celebrated every
year throughout India in the story of the Ramayana, and the song, dance, and
classical drama of the Ramlila. Hence, Hanuman is one of the most popular
Hindu deities, and monkeys are traditionally honored and worshipped in clas-
sic Hinduism (Lutgendorf,
2007
).
In the past 50 years, several forces, demographic, economic, cultural, and
ecologic, have all impacted the traditional monkey-human relationship in
