Recent studies on Indian primates show declining population trends, even in protected areas


SHAH I D HAMEED,TAWQ I R BASHIR,MOHAMMAD NIAMAT ALI MUNIB KHANY ARI and AJITH KUMAR


Abstract Population size and geographical range are the key quantitative criteria used by the IUCN to assess the con- servation status of a species. However, such information is often incomplete and inconsistent, even for seemingly abundant species. To assess the population and conserva- tion status of Indian primates, we conducted a systematic review of recent research using the searching, appraisal, synthesis and analysis (SALSA) approach. We reviewed a total of 41 studies on Indian primates conducted during the last 2 decades (2000–2021) for information on various parameters that influence their conservation. We found that 20 out of a total of 26 primate species were evaluated for their population status, and the majority of these studies (71%) showed an overall declining population trend. Re- markably, all but one of the studies conducted exclusively within protected areas revealed declining population trends, whereas trends were more variable for primate populations in non-protected areas. Our data indicate that only 27% (n = 7) of Indian primate species have been surveyed or re-surveyed to assess their population status within the last 5 years. Although threats vary in time and space from species to species, 78% of the studies recorded natural system modifications including habitat loss and fragmenta- tion among the main threats to the survival of Indian pri- mates. Most studies on the population status of Indian primates have either been spatially limited or used outdated methods. We recommend that future studies adopt robust techniques to estimate populations and work across larger geographical scales to develop effective management strat- egies for the conservation of primates in India.


Keywords Conservation, habitat loss, India, literature re- view, population trend, primates


SHAHID HAMEED*( orcid.org/0000-0001-9190-3472) Environmental Science, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India


TAWQIR BASHIR (Corresponding author, tawqir84@gmail.com) and MOHAMMAD NIAMAT ALI ( MUNIB KHANYARI (


orcid.org/0000-0001-5176-0657, orcid.org/0000-0002-


5128-9284) Centre of Research for Development, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, 190006, India


orcid.org/0000-0003-4624-5073) Nature Conservation


Foundation, Mysore, India AJITH KUMAR Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore, Karnataka, India


*Also at: Centre of Research for Development, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India.


Received 7 January 2023. Revision requested 14 March 2023. Accepted 19 May 2023. First published online 11 September 2023.


The supplementary material for this article is available at doi.org/10.1017/S0030605323000716


Introduction C


ontinuing, large-scale biodiversity loss is a global conservation concern and represents amajor challenge


for the 21st century (Butchart et al., 2010). Despite interna- tional conventions to overcome this challenge (Thomsen &Willerslev, 2015), the dearth of information on the status and distribution of species impedes effective conservation and prioritization. Over the past few decades, anthropo- genic land-cover changes have resulted in declining popula- tions of many species (Butchart et al., 2010), with the cur- rent rate of species extinction estimated to be nearly 1,000 times the background rate (Pimm et al., 1995, 2014). Further- more, species conservation efforts both regionally and glo- bally are often impeded by the lack of fine-scale range maps and accurate information on species distribution (Singh et al., 2020). Primates are at risk of extinction globally, with 60%of


species categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List and c. 30% of non-human primate species listed as Critically Endangered (Estrada et al., 2017). Nearly 75%of primate species are experiencing global population dec- lines and the situation is particularly alarming for Asian primates, with 95% of species declining (Estrada et al., 2017). Globally, populations and geographical ranges of most primate species are decreasing because of habitat loss and fragmentation caused primarily by anthropogenic activities (Rabanal et al., 2010;Wich et al., 2014; Cotton et al., 2016). Increasing human populations (Campbell et al., 2008), hunting of primates for consumption and the pet trade (Rosen & Smith, 2010), political instability (Kalpers et al., 2003) and diseases (Bermejo et al., 2006; Williams et al., 2008) are additional threats affecting primate popula- tions. These threats often act synergistically and are not mutually exclusive. Collecting baseline data on primate distribution, population sizes and trends is a key step towards effective conservation, as population monitoring enables researchers to quantify the impact of local threats and evaluate the success of any conservation measures implemented (Campbell et al., 2016). In addition, popula- tion monitoring can help to identify priority areas for pri- mate conservation, develop conservation management strategies and eliminate threats.


This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. Oryx, 2024, 58(2), 167–178 © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605323000716


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