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. 2018 Oct;47(6):711-720.
doi: 10.1007/s13280-017-1008-5. Epub 2018 Jan 13.

The monkey is not always a God: Attitudinal differences toward crop-raiding macaques and why it matters for conflict mitigation

Shaurabh Anand  1 , Vilakkathala Vijayan Binoy  1 , Sindhu Radhakrishna  2
Affiliations

The monkey is not always a God: Attitudinal differences toward crop-raiding macaques and why it matters for conflict mitigation

Shaurabh Anand et al. Ambio. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Attitudinal differences toward wildlife have important implications for conflict management and when the species in question have strong cultural and religious associations, conflict mitigation becomes a challenging endeavor. We investigated farmers' attitudes toward two different crop-raiding macaque species, the rhesus macaque in northern India, and the bonnet macaque in southern India. Apart from regional differences in attitudes, we also assessed temporal changes in attitude toward the rhesus macaque. We carried out household surveys using a semistructured questionnaire to collect data. Our findings reveal that respondents in southern and northern India differ significantly in their views regarding species sanctity and preference for mitigation options. Although people's perceptions of the rhesus macaques had changed over time in northern India, farmers were still unwilling to cause harm to the macaques. We discuss the underlying causes of these observed differences in attitude and their impact on the management of human-macaque conflict.

Keywords: Bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata); Conflict; India; Management; Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta).

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study areas: a Locations of Himachal Pradesh and Kerala in India, b Location of Solan district in Himachal Pradesh, c Location of Kasaragod district in Kerala
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Attitudinal differences toward rhesus macaques and bonnet macaques in Himachal Pradesh and Kerala. a Respondents’ perceptions regarding rhesus macaque and bonnet macaque. b Reasons that drive macaques to raid crops. c Proposed mitigation measures for conflict management (*statistically significant difference, Fisher’s exact test, α = 0.05)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Temporal changes in attitudes toward rhesus macaques in Himachal Pradesh. a Respondents’ perceptions regarding rhesus macaque. b Proposed mitigation measures for conflict management (*statistically significant difference, Fisher’s exact test, α = 0.05)
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