Viral Video of a Lion-tailed Monkey Has Caught Internet's Attention

India is home to a wide variety of unique flora and fauna. Some wildlife species found in the subcontinent are not seen anywhere else in the world. A video of one such creature was shared by Supriya Sahu, an Indian Administrative Services officer. Sahu, currently serving as the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Tamil Nadu, shared a short video of the rare lion-tailed macaque on Twitter, providing interesting (and some concerning) facts about this monkey species.

The video shows a monkey with shiny black fur sitting on a tree. The macaque’s lion-like grey mane, surrounding a bare, black face, easily catches the viewer’s eye. Different shots show it perched on a tree and clinging to it while chewing something. The big brown eyes are another prominent feature.

In the caption, Sahu wrote called the creature enigmatic and stunning. She further wrote, “Lion-tailed Macaques are endemic to Western Ghats. Highly endangered as only a couple of thousands of them are left. Habitat protection is important for their survival."

The original video surfaced on YouTube around 2 months ago. It features several lion-tailed macaques, including a juvenile, who are seen eating jackfruit and prancing around a tree.

Lion-tail macaques get their name due to their long, thin tails that are furless except for a tuft of hair at the end that resembles that of a lion. This species is only found in the small, fragmented rainforests of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu in the Southern part of India. They have made it to the endangered species category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red list six times, with the most recent such classification dating back to 2020.

The lion-tailed macaques are mostly shy and frugivorous primates, that prefer living in the upper canopies of evergreen rainforests.

They are typically 40 to 61 cm in length, with the tail adding some extra centimetres. Males usually weigh between 5 and 10 kg, while females range between 3 to 6 kg.

In most macaques, females can reproduce once per year if conditions are good. They give birth after approximately six months gestation period.

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