Distribution, abundance, group size and demography of dark-bellied bonnet macaque Macaca radiata radiata in Karnataka, South India

We carried out an extensive survey on bonnet macaques in the south Indian state of Karnataka over a period of five years. We travelled 9697 km covering all districts and recorded the distribution, encounter rate and demographic features of bonnet macaque groups on roadsides and villages, temples and several different forest types, and walked 1736 km in selected Protected Areas and Reserve Forest. Bonnet macaque groups were encountered at a rate of 2.11 groups/100 km in a road survey. Encounter rates were high in the districts of Chamarajanagar, Shimoga, Bangalore, Kolar, Kodagu and Mysore. Encounter rates were higher in wet evergreen forests than in deciduous forests. Mean group size was highest in human habitations followed by deciduous forests, roadsides and evergreen forests. The groups in highly provisioned places had the highest size compared to medium or low degree of provisioning. Age–sex ratios were observed to be the same in all habitat types. We propose that large-scale surveys of the present type provide baseline data for long-term management and conservation of a species.