Interspecific Feeding Association between Central Himalayan Langurs (Semnopithecus schistaceus) and Himalayan Black Bears (Ursus thibetanus), in a Temperate Forest of the Western Indian Himalayas

Abstract

One aspect of interspecific feeding associations is gleaning, or the acquisition of food resources by one species eating items that incidentally drop to the ground by another species while feeding. Gleaning is a widespread phenomenon between primates and ungulates, but primate-carnivore gleaning associations are extremely rare in the literature. While studying the behavior and ecology of the Central Himalayan langur (Semnopithecus schistaceus) in the alpine zone (3300 m–3500 m a.s.l.) of Rudranath, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand State, India, we observed three direct instances and gathered indirect putative evidence of gleaning by Himalayan black bear (Ursus thibetanus) beneath large Quercus semecarpifolia trees with langurs feeding on acorns during the peak fruiting season. This is the first report of such a feeding association between langurs and bears, and the second for primates and carnivores.