Dasgupta Dishari, Banerjee Arnab, Dutta Akash, Mitra Shohini, Banerjee Debolina, Karar Rikita, Karmakar Srijita, Bhattacharya Aparajita, Ghosh Swastika, Bhattacharjee Pritha, Paul Manabi
Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, India.
Department of Zoology, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
Anim Cogn. 2025 Mar 19;28(1):25. doi: 10.1007/s10071-024-01925-y.
Urbanization has drastically altered natural habitats, forcing non-human primates (NHPs) to adapt to human-modified environments. This study examines one such adaptation undertaken by free-ranging Hanuman langurs residing in Dakshineswar, a temple area and a tourist hub in West Bengal. Our observations reveal that they have come up with solicitation behaviors resembling human begging wherein they ask for food from nearby humans using various gestures. Notably, we identified seven distinct 'begging' gestures, with those involving embracing human legs and pulling their clothes having strong correlation with successful outcome. Moreover, adult female langurs predominantly initiate such gestures, with successful solicitation events peaking during evening sessions. The findings underscore langurs' adaptive capacity to exploit anthropogenic resources, where they have started to associate human beings as their food source. This study sheds light on primate behavior in urban landscapes, adding further evidence to the complex dynamics of human-monkey interactions.
城市化极大地改变了自然栖息地，迫使非人类灵长类动物（NHPs）适应人类改造的环境。本研究考察了生活在西孟加拉邦一座寺庙区域和旅游胜地达克希什瓦尔的野生哈努曼叶猴所进行的一种此类适应行为。我们的观察结果显示，它们想出了类似人类乞讨的 solicitation 行为，即它们用各种手势向附近的人类索要食物。值得注意的是，我们识别出了七种不同的“乞讨”手势，其中那些涉及抱住人类腿部和拉扯他们衣服的手势与成功获得食物的结果有很强的相关性。此外，成年雌性叶猴主要发起此类手势，成功的 solicitation 事件在傍晚时段达到峰值。这些发现强调了叶猴利用人为资源的适应能力，它们已开始将人类视为自己的食物来源。本研究揭示了城市景观中的灵长类动物行为，为人类与猴子互动的复杂动态增添了更多证据。
