DAMAGES BY NON-HUMAN PRIMATES AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN AGROECOSYSTEM

Abstract

India has long been known as one of the rich primate areas of the world, both in species diversity and population abundance. In recent times the problem of some primates is increasing in agriculture, horticulture and urban environs. The activities like human population growth, deforestation, intensive agricultural practices and urbanization lead to an ever increasing encroachment on wildlife habitats andreduction of wild animals’ natural habitats forcing species to adapt to altered habitats and small marginal patches. In contrast, species with a high degree of flexibility can adapt to living in, or near, areas inhabited by man, where in some cases they end up using easily accessible food resources, like human cultivations and garbage. To date, there has been comparatively very little systematic research carried out to investigate patterns of crop raiding activity by wild animals, its potential impact on farmers’ food and household economic security and ways and means to manage them. The majority of the research that exist at present has focused on the issues related to crop damage by rodents, however information on higher vertebrates such as primates and ungulates often cited as troublesome ‘pests’ in agricultural areas is scant and scattered.