Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2021 | 13(9): 19352–19357
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7521.13.9.19352-19357
#7521 | Received 13 June 2021 | Finally
accepted 11 August 2021
The captive population of the Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus (Linnaeus, 1758). The future
of an endangered primate under
human care
Nilofer Begum 1,
Werner Kaumanns 2, Alexander Sliwa 3 & Mewa
Singh 4
1,2 LTM-Research and Conservation, Eschenweg 5, 37130, Gleichen, Germany.
1 Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin,
Berlin, Germany.
3 Zoologischer Garten Köln, Riehler Straße 173, 50735 Köln, Germany.
4 Biopsychology Laboratory,
Institution of Excellence, Vijnana Bhavan, University of Mysore, Mysuru, Karnataka 570006, India.
1 niloferbegum3@gmail.com, 2 silenus@t-online.de,
3 sliwa@koelnerzoo.de, 4 mewasinghltm@gmail.com
(corresponding author)
Abstract: For conservation breeding,
the endangered Lion-tailed Macaques have been maintained
in North America under SSP since 1983 and in Europe under EEP since 1989. Based on a growing interest to support the
species long-term survival, the SSP population
increased considerably during the first few years of the programme but
due to space problems and resulting birth control measures, it has drastically
declined to small numbers and a non- breeding
status at present. The EEP population continually increased till 2012, but due
to the lack of spaces and birth control
practises, it has gradually declined
since then. It is emphasised that the knowledge gained from
field studies on Lion-tailed Macaques in India
and its incorporation for captive management under EEP has helped
develop appropriate management
strategies. Captive propagation of the Lion-tailed Macaque in India, the
habitat country, can profit from the successes
and drawbacks of the long-term
management experiences of SSP and EEP.
Keywords: Captive breeding, SSP, EEP,
Indian captive population, meta population management.
Editor: Anonymity
requested. Date of
publication: 26 August 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Begum, N., W. Kaumanns, A. Sliwa & M. Singh
(2021). The captive population of the Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus (Linnaeus, 1758). The future of an endangered primate
under human care. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(9): 19352–19357. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7521.13.9.19352-19357
Copyright: © Begum et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: SERB India and Wels Zoo Austria.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: Mewa Singh acknowledges the Science
and Engineering Research Board, Government of India for the award of a SERB
Distinguished Fellowship (Award Number: SB/S9/YSCP/SERB-DF/2018(1).
Nilofer Begum acknowledges Tiergarten Wels for
supporting her project and LTM conservation in general.
For most of its history, the
captive population of the Lion-tailed Macaque (LTM) was mainly constituted by
the North American and the European subpopulations and by a number of other
small subpopulations (e.g., India and Japan). Figure 1 and Figure 2 provide an
overview on its development, births, imports, and losses. They, like other data
used for this paper, are based on the last edition of the international
studbook for the LTM (Sliwa & Begum 2019). The
North American breeding programme (Species Survival Plan, SSP) for the LTM was
established in 1983 with 163 individuals in about 30 zoos (Gledhill 1985). The
European programme (European Endangered Species Programme, EEP) was established
in 1989, comprising 89 individuals in 12 institutions. Currently, the latter
comprises 322 individuals in 44 institutions. The EEP was coordinated by Dr. Werner Kaumanns (German
Primate Center; since 2000 curator of primates at
Cologne Zoo) till his retirement in 2006. Dr.
Alexander Sliwa, Cologne Zoo, is the coordinator since
then. The European population grew slowly but steadily to a size of 338
individuals in 2012 but decreased to a current size of 322 individuals in 2018
(Figure 1). The number of births decreased drastically since 2011 (global-
Figure 2, European- Figure 3, for more information see below). The American SSP
population with its first coordinator and (International) studbook keeper
Laurence Gledhill had its peak size and productivity in the decade after the
start of the SSP, with about 269 individuals in 1988. Currently, there are only
31 individuals living (Sarno 2018). The reasons for
the decrease were space problems, widely executed birth control measures in the
1990s, ageing, and possibly loss of interest (Lindburg
2001; Ness 2011, 2013). The Indian captive population currently comprises 51
individuals including 16 wild-born macaques. The Japanese Lion-tailed Macaque
subpopulation has 76 individuals; other smaller stocks comprise 36 individuals
totally.
The current global population
comprises 516 individuals in 98 zoos. The wild population of the LTM at present
is estimated to be about 4,000 individuals, distributed in 47 isolated
subpopulations at seven locations (Singh et al. 2020), with less than 2,500
mature individuals in about 200 groups. The current captive population in 98
groups, therefore, constitutes about 11% of the global population.
The breeding programmes for the
LTM always acted with a perspective on the species in the wild. The
establishment of the SSP for the LTM was realised assuming that at that time
only about 1,000 LTMs were left in the wild (see Hill 1971). To establish a
reserve in zoos was intended. Contacts and cooperation between American and
Indian institutions were realised (including financial support for field
studies). American scientists and especially Dr.
Donald Lindburg, San Diego Zoological Society,
contributed important studies both with reference to the biology of the species
and its captive propagation (e.g., Lindburg et al.
1989; Lindburg & Gledhill 1992; Lindburg & Harvey 1996).
Almost since its establishment,
the European LTM population was managed
in contact with Indian wildlife biologists. Results from their studies
on the wild population in its natural habitat (Western Ghats, southern India)
were integrated. Since 1998 (till 2004) the annual reports for the captive
population also reported on the status and other relevant aspects of the wild
population. This was based on a close (ongoing) cooperation of the first EEP
coordinator with Dr. Mewa
Singh and Dr. Ajith Kumar. Prof.
Mewa Singh, University Mysore, leading Indian
primatologist, and wildlife biologist visited Germany to work on LTM matters
with Dr. Werner Kaumanns
since the 1990s more than 25 times. Mainly due to Mewa
Singh and his working group, the conservation of the LTM became and is
still an important issue in India. In
addition to grants from major Indian sources, some of the studies were
financially supported by German Primate Center,
Volkswagen Foundation, various American and European zoos, and private persons.
Due to this work, the current status of the species and conservation needs are
well known, and the Lion-tailed Macaque is one of the best-studied macaque
species, both in the wild and in captivity (for an overview see Singh et al.
2009 and Kaumanns et al. 2013). In situ and ex situ
studies resulted in a large number of publications that cover aspects of
husbandry and management, conservation and especially many aspects of the
species biology. A number of Prof. Singh’s students
were involved in Lion-tailed Macaque studies and will continue working for the
conservation of the species. Efforts to save the LTM in India got much support
through the Fifth International LTM Conference in 1999, that was organised by Mewa Singh at the University of Mysore and supported by the
EEP coordinator. Two volumes (58, 59) of German Primate Center’s
Primate Report (Schwibbe et al. 2000, 2001) report on
the results of the conference. These reports provide an overview on the status
of in situ and ex situ research and captive propagation efforts for the
species.
The contact with Indian
colleagues, the involvement in field studies on a number of aspects of the
species biology, and the resulting knowledge, significantly influenced the
management of the EEP population. From the beginning of the EEP’s existence,
the importance of behavioural and especially social aspects, breeding patterns
and aspects of life histories were emphasised. According to Singh et al.
(2006), especially considering the reproductive system and social system of the
species, is the key to the conservation of the species. EEP policy strongly
went for this. Although close cooperation between EEP and SSP was initiated
during the Third International LTM Conference (1990) in San Diego, the
programmes developed differently. In the SSP population, birth control on a
large scale, based on a strict genetic management was carried out from about
1988 onwards (Lindburg & Gledhill 1992; Lindburg et al. 1997; Lindburg
2001). Figure 1 demonstrates the effects on the development of the global
historical population. It also shows the latter’s “recovery” (2001--–2011) and
a new decline from 2012 onwards. This results from a strong decrease in the
number of births (Figure 2). This decrease is induced by the development of the
European population (Figure 3). Birth control has been carried out there, too,
to deal with space problems. Under these pressurising conditions, the EEP
long-term management plan edited in 2016 (Sliwa et
al. 2016) recommends further birth control measures on a large scale.
Birth control on a large scale
over long periods of time to control population size, however, can have
enormous risks for the survival of a population. The example of the SSP
population and a number of relevant studies (Kaumanns
et al. 2013; Penfold et al. 2014; Kaumanns &
Singh 2015; Kaumanns et al. 2020) demonstrate
possible negative consequences and elaborate ways to stop negative trends.
We are afraid that under the
conditions given, the EEP population’s and therefore the global captive
population’s, long-term survival is threatened – given the trend in population
development continues and no serious changes in management are initiated soon.
The ‘Endangered’ status of the LTM in the wild (Singh et al. 2020) with
increasing fragmentation of its range of distribution and habitat destruction,
strongly recommend, to continue with preserving a reserve in zoos, especially
in India. Measures to stabilise the European and thus the global captive
population, and new steps towards achieving its long-term survival are urgently
required in order to prevent a loss of reproductive potential, like it happened
in the SSP population. The European population is the only captive population
that is still large and potentially productive enough to be developed further
as a reserve. It seems, that space problems and other infrastructural
limitations currently hinder to achieve this goal. EEP participants should
consider whether all means to allow more breeding again are really exhausted
or whether stopping birth control or more moderate schedules are possible, at
least. It is suggested that more should be done to preserve the population’s
breeding potential, size, and structure, with the goal to send European LTMs
back to other regions and especially to
their country of origin.
Zoos in India keep a small LTM
population with a number of potential founders. Many zoos however report
breeding problems. According to the last edition of the international studbook,
totally 51 animals are kept in 10 Indian zoos, six of which keep less than
three animals each. There are two zoos with more individuals – Chennai (n= 20)
and Trivandrum (n= 10). These group sizes come close to group sizes in the
wild. Historically, Chennai Zoo contributed to more than one-third (n= 64) of the
captive births in India (n= 185) and between 2003 and 2018, it contributed to
75% (n= 45) of births in Indian zoos (n= 60) in this period. This might be due
to an accumulation of husbandry know-how, personnel experience, and constancy
in the management system. Delhi Zoo played an important role in the past by
contributing to 49 births, many of them in the 1970s–80s. Judging from the
experiences in the European breeding programme, successful breeding requires
allowing groups to grow undisturbed, to larger sizes of around 20 individuals
with differentiated demographic structures that allow the females to live
permanently in their natal groups and to maintain strong social bonds
(female-bonded system; see Kumar 1987). This would allow intergenerational overlap
and to acquire the necessary social and cognitive competence to interact
properly in a complex social system and
to raise offspring (Kaumanns et al. 2013). According
to field observations, only the males are the mobile elements of the
Lion-tailed Macaque social system (Kumar 1987; Kumar et al. 2001). Under
captive conditions only males should be transferred between groups (for details
see Kaumanns et al. 2006). More information derived
from the studies in the wild (e.g., Kumar 1987; Krishnamani
& Kumar 2000; Umapathy & Kumar 2000; Sharma
2002; Sushma 2004; Singh et al. 2006) is available to be used in designing
keeping systems for the species. It refers to the species’ arboreal life,
selective and individualised foraging on diverse plant and animal species,
seasonal variations in diet, large time spent in foraging and exploration,
maintenance of large interindividual distances, low reproductive turnover, and
a number of special features of the reproductive system. Many aspects have been
emphasised for the management of the species in the international breeding
programmes. Their consideration would also support successful breeding in the
country of origin especially with its advantage of natural living conditions,
availability of native food plants and large open-air enclosures.
The Indian zoo community is
interested in building up a larger, more productive population in cooperation
with the European Breeding Programme (Govindhaswamy Umapathy, pers. comm. 03.viii.2020). This constellation
provides a chance to develop perspectives and solutions for problems on both
sides. A cooperation could provide spaces for Lion-tailed Macaques from
European zoos. Even more importantly, a larger and productive Indian population
supported both in terms of animals and know-how from Europe could serve as an
interface between the captive and the wild populations. It could be used for a
number of conservation purposes – including providing animals for
reintroductions in the long run. The establishment of an “Indo-European Lion-tailed
Macaque reserve population” would require careful planning. An integrated
(One-Plan) approach needs to be developed that aims at the integration of the
know-how on the species and the conservation-oriented research interests as
provided by the above-mentioned Indian scientists and their institutions. It
furthermore should aim at the development of the infrastructural conditions in
selected Indian zoos as required for an appropriate management and husbandry
aiming at conservation breeding (for a more elaborated outline on this topic
see Singh et al. 2012). Research institutions, selected Indian zoos in the
range states of the species (like Chennai, Trivandrum, and Mysore) and the EEP
should cooperate closely. A small board of experts from these institutions
should be established to guide and supervise the project. Previous attempts to
establish a breeding programme for the LTM in India and to transfer breeding
groups from the USA and from Europe did not work out well due to bureaucratic
issues and difficulties with local competence and motivation (see also Krishnakumar & Manimozhi
2000; Singh et al. 2009). The proposed new approach should be designed such
that corresponding problems are minimised. It is of particular importance to
‘institutionalise’ captive propagation of the LTM in its country of origin more strongly. It should include to choose a
competent coordinator who permanently overlooks and organises the work above
the level of individual zoos and is supported by the Central Zoo Authority of
India. A successfully carried out project would also serve as a model for other
species and co-operations. It could help to establish Indian zoos as important
partners in metapopulation management programmes especially concerning endemic
Indian species like the LTM. It is important to note thereby, that time is
running out for the development and establishment of international
metapopulation management programmes (see Macdonald & Hofer 2011; Powell et
al. 2019). They are needed to overcome the sustainability problems threatening
many captive populations. Many of them are shrinking for instance due to
breeding problems. In terms of climate, available space, and other resources, a
number of zoos in India could establish very good keeping systems for the LTM.
As elaborated by Singh et al. (2012), conservation breeding in Indian zoos,
however, still requires a serious change in professional attitudes, training
opportunities and infrastructural requirements. The future of the global
captive population of the LTM, for instance, may depend on progress there.
Many zoos and many dedicated
people in several countries worked for the survival of the LTM in the wild and
for the establishment of a reserve population under human care over many
decades. They achieved a lot. Currently, much of what has been achieved with
the captive population is at risk. To allow a development ending with a captive
LTM population without much breeding and thus with a low conservation potential
would be against professional standards and simply sad.
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