The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Baby macaque's death at zoo cause for concern

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 31, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Baby macaque's death at zoo cause for concern

Vani Doraisamy

Post-mortem reports indicate a "problem in the brain"

REASON TO WORRY: The newborn Lion Tailed Macaque at Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, with its mother, Veni, a day before its death on Monday. — PHOTO: A. MURALITHARAN

CHENNAI: The death of a ten-day old Lion Tailed Macaque at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, has cast gloom over the zoo.

Conservation of the Lion Tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus), a critically endangered species listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, is a priority agenda for the AAZP, which is the only zoo in the country to have a successful captive LTM breeding programme.

Zoo authorities said post-mortem reports indicated a "problem in the brain" of the baby. The dead macaque was one of a twosome born in the zoo this month to two different mothers, Veni and Viji.

While Veni was bereaved on Monday night, Viji's baby is said to be doing fine.

"Baby macaques, by their nature, are very fragile and unless they are of a certain age, the cause of their death cannot be ascertained. Veni's offspring showed no distress till Monday night. We do not know how the death happened," P.L. Ananthasamy, Chief Conservator of Forests and AAZP Director, said.

Naturalists, however, allege that captive breeding of the LTM has its own pitfalls. "The LTM is an evolutionally frail creature and can be found only in the highest reaches of the Western Ghats. Captive breeding has to be done under climate-neutral conditions and young ones need special attention. It may be that the baby monkey died due to extreme heat conditions, which the zoo authorities could have overlooked," a consultant for the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, said.

AAZP is the only zoological park with a successful LTM conservation record in the entire country and is also the National Stud Book Keeper for the species.

At present, the zoo houses 16 LTMs, six males and ten females. Of all the 20 captive females kept in 16 zoos throughout the country, only six in Vandalur are regular breeders.

With the Central Zoo Authority permitting the import of thirteen LTMs from San Diego Wild Animal Park, California, to Indian zoos, quite a few macaques are expected to land in Vandalur's spacious enclosures.

The zoo is also expecting two more LTM births later this month.

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