Food and feeding in hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) of bidar District Karnataka
2018
Patil, Shivakumar | Modse, Sanjeevareddy
Hanuman langur is a common primate found in a wide range of habitats, preferring dry deciduous forest with xerophytic vegetation. They are mainly herbivorous feeding on almost all parts of plants such as leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. Leaves are the major part of their diet throughout the year. Hence, they are folivorous. They are adapted even for eating tough food which other animals find indigestible and distasteful. They can eat even seeds with high levels of toxins. Although folivorous, they consume diverse range of food plant species. Bidar district provides natural habitat required by Hanuman Langurs. Their food consumption differs according to age, sex, class and depends on factors like body size, nutritional requirement and physical strength. The study was conducted in Bidar district, Karnataka, where 8.5% of its total geographical area is covered with forest. The climate of the district is generally dry throughout the year except during southwest monsoon. The study was conducted from Jan 2012 to Dec. 2014. In the present study we used visual animal sampling method to record feeding behaviour. Observations were made for 158 days or 858 hours. During the present study period it was observed that a total of 143 plant species are eaten by Hanuman Langur of which none were reported previously from this region. Of the total, 92 plant species are new addition to the existing data of plant species eaten by Hanuman Langurs.
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