Effects of deforestation on attitudes and levels of tolerance towards commensal primates (Cercopithecidae) in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Attitudes of people to wildlife, particularly to animals that live in close proximity to them, are an important element of conservation efforts and management. Attitudes may vary according to age and levels of conflict. We assessed the influence of proximity of forest on the attitudes of people towards two commensal primates, the purple-faced langur and the toque macaque. Data were collected in Sri Lanka by interviews in three villages where there is no continuous forest remaining and in three villages with adjacent forest. We found high levels of tolerance towards commensal primates, but significantly higher levels of negative perceptions in villages where forest was no longer present. Perceptions were not related to age or sex. The total disappearance of forest, with primates being dependent on fruit crops and living permanently on the village grounds, inevitably leads to conflict. These changing views have important management implications. Animals surviving in a human-dominated landscape may become more common, and the experiences in Sri Lanka may provide insight into what the future holds for other sites.

Keywords:

• conservation attitudes
• crop raiding
• ethical issues
• human wildlife conflict
• management

Acknowledgements

We thank our colleague L. Parker for data collection and D. Brandon-Jones, S.K. Bearder, C. Eschmann, S. Jaffe, R. Moore, N. Priston and D. Thurling, who helped in the planning stages, with data collection, and in the write-up of this study. We thank G. de Silva Wijeyeratne, C. Maelge, and A. Samarajeewa of Jetwing Eco Holidays and Jetwing Hotels for support under the Jetwing Research Initiative. For assistance in the field we thank K. Conniff, G. Ash, Bandara, Cyril, Sanjiva, Sunita, Myhse, and S. Perera and P. Perera. We are thankful to People's Trust for Endangered Species, Party Packs, Oxford Brookes University and the Reinvention Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme for funding parts of this project.