#wanderoo

In the lush depths of the Western Ghats, a sage-like figure known as Aranya, the wise old wanderoo, held sway. His silver mane shimmered like moonbeams, carrying the whispered secrets of the forest. Aranya’s duty was no ordinary one; he guarded the sacred fig tree, repository of ancient wisdom and bearer of fruits said to bestow enlightenment upon those who partook. Animals from all corners of…

The Lion-tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus), or the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.

A recent assessment for IUCN reports 3,000-3,500 of these animals live scattered over several areas in Kerala.  The lion-tailed macaque ranks among the rarest and most threatened primates.  Their range has become increasingly isolated and fragmented by the spread of agriculture and tea, coffee, teak and cinchona, construction of water reservoirs for irrigation and power generation, and human settlements to support such activities.  They do not live, feed or travel through plantations.  Destruction of their habitat and their avoidance of human proximity have led to the drastic decrease of their population.  However, it is no longer on ‘The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates’ list, after the international body compiling the report determined that the local governments in southern India had acted positively to protect it.