Altered Food Habits? Understanding the Feeding Preference of Free-Ranging Gray Langurs Within an Urban Settlement

Frontiers in Psychology

Arnab Banerjee¹  Purnendu Sardar²  Shohini Mitra³  Rikita Karar³  Debolina Banerjee³  Manabi Paul³  Dishari Dasgupta³  Aparajita Bhattacharya³  Swastika Ghosh³  Pritha Bhattacharjee³  Srijita Karmakar⁴ 

[1] Centre for Mathematical Biology and Ecology, Department of Mathematics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India;Systems Ecology and Ecological Modelling Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India;Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India;Department of Environmental Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India;Department of Environmental Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India;Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Nadia, India;

关键词: gray langur;    free-ranging;    urbanization;    co-existence;    feeding preference;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.649027

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Urbanization affects concurrent human-animal interactions as a result of altered resource availability and land use pattern, which leads to considerable ecological consequences. While some animals have lost their habitat due to urban encroachment, few of them managed to survive within the urban ecosystem by altering their natural behavioral patterns. The feeding repertoire of folivorous colobines, such as gray langur, largely consists of plant parts. However, these free-ranging langurs tend to be attuned to the processed high-calorie food sources to attain maximum benefits within the concrete jungle having insignificant greenery. Therefore, besides understanding their population dynamics, the effective management of these urbanized, free-ranging, non-human primate populations also depends on their altered feeding habits. Here, we have used a field-based experimental setup that allows gray langurs to choose between processed and unprocessed food options, being independent of any inter-specific conflicts over resources due to food scarcity. The multinomial logit model reveals the choice-based decision-making of these free-ranging gray langurs in an urban settlement of West Bengal, India, where they have not only learned to recognize the human-provisioned processed food items as an alternative food source but also shown a keen interest in it. However, such a mismatch between the generalized feeding behavior of folivorous colobines and their specialized gut physiology reminds us of Liem's paradox and demands considerable scientific attention. While urbanization imposes tremendous survival challenges to these animals, it also opens up for various alternative options for surviving in close proximity to humans which is reflected in this study, and could guide us for the establishment of a sustainable urban ecosystem in the future.

【 授权许可】

CC BY