Of how much concern are the 'least concern' species? Distribution and conservation status of bonnet macaques, rhesus macaques and Hanuman langurs in Karnataka, India.

We assessed the distribution and conservation status of bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata), rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and Hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) in the state of Karnataka, India. Karnataka is situated in southwest India with an area of 191,791 km(2). A total of 9697 km of vehicular survey was made from November 2001 to July 2004. We also visited 107 temples/tourist spots to determine the presence of primates. Bonnet macaques and Hanuman langurs were widely distributed, whereas rhesus macaques were not found in the state. However, bonnet macaques were absent in a few districts in the northern plains and Hanuman langurs were absent in some districts of the southern plains. A total of 205 groups of bonnet macaques and 139 groups of Hanuman langurs were sighted. The relative encounter rate of both species differed across biogeographic zones. Bonnet macaques were largely encountered in the Western Ghats and the Southern Plateau whereas Hanuman langurs were abundant in the Western Ghats and Northern Plains. We found that bonnet macaques have been eliminated from about 48% temples/tourist spots where they occurred in the recent past. The Hanuman langur population of Dharwar-Haliyal Road was assessed during April 2003, and we found that the present population size was about 38% of a previous survey in 1961. Habitat change, hunting/trapping and translocation were the major factors causing a decline in the langur population.