Why did the macaque cross the road?

by Kalyan Varma for Chasing the Monsoon, 9 July 2009

Wildlife photgrapher and film maker Kalyan Varma has been following a troop of lion-tailed macaques, living in the Western Ghat mountains of Tamil Nadu.

These are some of the most endangered primates in the world, with less than 4,000 remaining in the wild.

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These rare primates are a joy to watch for Kalyan Varma.

Lion-tailed macaques are usually shy and prefer to spend all their time in the canopy yet in this small outpost of India they have become habituated to humans and have daily contact with them.

Commercial plantations and roads in this region have further fragmented their already diminishing forest habitat. But the macaques have adapted to these threats by leaving the protection of the canopy to forage on the ground. They are being protected by the good will of the local people and efforts of the forest department and conservation organisations.

Another primate that is usually shy near humans revealed its more outgoing side when filmed by the Life team, watch uakari: leap of faith to see the uakaris' spectacular trapeze act.