The wild stump-tailed Macaca arctoides
GUWAHATI: Possibly the largest troop of the vulnerable Rhesus Monkey species, the wild stump-tailed Macaca arctoides, has been spotted at the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Jorhat, Assam, said a study conducted by 13 researchers, published in a science journal on Friday. The study team found a total of 194 individuals in the 20.98 sqkm sanctuary.
“On December 22, 2016, we encountered a troop of stump-tailed macaques at the boundary of compartments 3 and 4 of the sanctuary. We counted the individuals but could not assign all of them to any particular age-sex class. We, however, recorded a video of the troop and were then able to assign all individuals to different age-sex categories with the help of this recording. We counted a total of 194 individuals, with their age-sex composition,” said Narayan Sharma, assistant professor, Cotton University, and one of the authors of the study.