In search of Lion tailed Macaque’s

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As per our plans we reached Aliyar by 5:30 am and we started setting up our equipments to shoot the sunrise.The Aliyar dam is located in the foothills of Valparai, in the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats. After framing the art of nature, we started moving forward stopping on each hairpin bends to take the breathtaking landscapes.

To our surprise on one of the hairpin we saw one Sambar deer female gazing on the roadside, she was there for a minute and slowly walked into the bushes. Almost 10 feet we saw the male sambar deer on the roadside. We couldn’t click any, but were discussing about the wonderful sighting…!

The Valparai is located 3,500 feet above sea level, which has 40 hairpin bends on the way to Valparai from Aliyar. Major portions of the land are owned by private tea companies, large forest areas continue to be out of bounds. Earliest records of this area are from the year 1846 when Ramasamy Mudaliyar started coffee plantation here. In 1864 Karnatic Coffee Company began their coffee plantation here. But they could not make it profitable. Hence they sold some part of their land. In 1875, the roads and guest houses were built by soldiers for the visit of England’s Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. Soldiers were posted here and horses and Elephants were used for this purpose. However, the visit was eventually cancelled. In 1890 W Wintil and Nordan bought a huge portion of land in Valparai from Madras State Government under the British Raj. Wintil deforested the area and planted tea and coffee. He was assisted by Carwer Marsh, an experienced planter for a salary of 250 rupees. Carwer Marsh was hardworking and built a close relationship with the local people. He was later known as The Father of Anamalais. A statue of Carwer Marsh has been erected Kavarkal Estate.

We were almost reaching Valparai. There we saw a huge gaur in the tea plantation. Abhi took his equipments and started moving closer to take a good “close-up”…

To our surprise, on the other-side we saw a herd of gaurs… almost 20 of them…! They were very co-operative and so we had enough pictured of them before we moved to Valparai.

After breakfast, we moved in search of the Lion Tailed Macaque’s, which was the aim of this trip. After half-n-hour of search we saw these guys. Of all the macaque species, the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), named for its lion-like tail, is the most threatened. Macaca silenus seems unable to adapt to close proximity to humankind, preferring to live high in the treetops, rarely venturing down to the forest floor. The main threat to the lion-tailed macaque is the destruction of its habitat, occasional persecution as crop pests, as well as its unfortunate resemblance to Nilgiri langurs (Trachypithecus johnii) which are considered to have medicinal value.

The lion-tailed macaque also has the distinction of being one of the only species of macaque that are arboreal, which means, as earlier mentioned, that they prefer to spend their time in the tops of trees, usually of the evergreen variety in more mature forests, though they will live in semi evergreen broad-leaf monsoon forests, and sometimes forests near a river.

Lion-tailed Macaques are pure rain forest dwellers. They are good climbers and spend a majority of their life in the trees. Unlike other macaques, they avoid humans. In their group behaviour they are much like other macaques: they live in hierarchical groups of usually ten to twenty animals, which consist of some males and many females. They are territorial animals, defending their area first with loud cries towards the invading troops. If this proves fruitless, they brawl aggressively.

Lion-tailed Macaques nourish themselves primarily of fruits, but also eat leaves, buds, insects and small vertebrates.

Lion-tailed Macaques rank among the rarest and most threatened primates. According to estimations of the IUCN, only approximately 2,500 of these animals’ lives scattered over several areas in southwest India. The destruction of their habitat and the fact that they avoid human proximity, has led to the drastic decrease of their population. Many zoos take part in breeding programs which help to secure the survival of this species.

While photographing the Lion Tailed Macaque, this curious gentle man came and posed for us. The Indian giant squirrel, or Malabar giant squirrel, (Ratufa indica) is a large tree squirrel species genus Ratufa native to India. The Ratufa indica has a conspicuous two-toned (and sometimes three-toned) color scheme. The Indian giant squirrel is an upper-canopy dwelling species, which rarely leaves the trees, and requires “tall profusely branched trees for the construction of nests.” It travels from tree to tree with jumps of up to 6 meters.

It was almost 11am and we decided to take a drive through the Sholayar forest to the Athirampilly waterfalls, considered to be one of the most magnificent waterfalls in the country and loved by many including movie makers and honeymooners. From Valparai, the road goes through dense wild jungles after Malakkiparai. Route is as follows: Valparai-Malakkiparai 22 km-Sholayar 24-Peringalkuthu Dam 25-Vazhachal 5-Athirapalli 5-Chalakudy 33 km.

There is absolutely no human settlement between Malakkiparai and Peringalkuthu Dam. Wildlife – elephants and bison – spill over onto the road, and night driving is discouraged. Both Vazhachal and Athirapalli are on the same Chalakudy river.