Abstract
Many humans coexist with non-human primates (NHP), and as human populations have increased so have the pressures on natural habitats. For example, deforestation results in habitat loss and food scarcity for NHPs. In response, NHPs sometimes enter human habitats in search of food, which can result in negative interactions between humans and NHPs. This study focused on human-NHP interactions in three Grama Niladhari divisions in Kegalle District, Sri Lanka. We used interviewer-administered structured questionnaires to collect data from 500 randomly selected informants. The majority stated that they could not obtain sufficient harvests from home gardens for their own consumption owing to crop damage and losses caused largely by NHPs and other wild animals. This has led many people to abandon home gardening. Toque Macaques caused the most damage to crops, followed by Wild Boars, porcupines, and Purple-faced Leaf Langurs. Damage was caused to coconuts, vegetables, bananas, and yams. NHPs also caused property damage, with Toque Macaques causing more damage than langurs. People commonly used firecrackers, catapults and air rifles, and wore wooden or plastic face masks, in attempts to control crop damage by NHPs, with little success. People are of the opinion that the NHPs should be relocated to other forested areas or sterilized to control their numbers. In conclusion, to address the issues pertaining to human-primate interactions in terms of conflict due to crop utilization of primates, an integrated management plan should be developed in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders.
Highlights
Humans, macaques, and langurs are members of the sub-order Anthropoidea in the Order Primates
This study looks into the wild animals in the selected study area and their impact on home garden crops
Types of crops cultivated in the home gardens The most common home gardening crops grown in all three GN divisions were coconuts (15%), Jack fruits (13%), areca nuts (13%), pepper (10%), and bananas (9%)
Summary
Macaques, and langurs are members of the sub-order Anthropoidea in the Order Primates. As a result, when they share the same environment a variety of interactions between them become inevitable Sometimes these interactions have negative impacts on species when they share similar food resources (Houle 1997; Peiman & Robinson 2010). The positive interactions include deploying primates for economically beneficial activities such as harvesting coconuts, as can be seen in Thailand and as performers to entertain humans (Nahallage & Huffman 2013; Nahallage 2019). In both instances, humans gain economic benefit by employing primates in various activities, which in turn creates a positive attitude towards them. Most crucial for the survival of the primates and their conservation is mitigating adverse interactions that create negative attitudes toward primates, primarily in the form of human and non-human primate competitions over common resources
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