One of the smaller primates of the country the lion tailed macaque (LTM) is endemic to the Western Ghats and have a large population in Karnataka.

Inhabitants of the rain forests, the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) is one of the most threatened species of primates in the Western Ghats of South India.

The first time I heard about these primates was on a trip to Agumbe where I visited ARRS for a cobra telemetry project. A casual conversation had the person in charge tell me “if you are lucky you will spot the LTM on your way down.”

And it was just my luck that in spite of the fact that our vehicle navigated a tricky curve, it was my driver who said he spotted what looked like a rare monkey.

We then backed up to see not one but a large family of LTM that were perched on one of the rain trees. I was besotted by the sighting and later learnt that they are endangered species. While I was lucky to see them, will the future generations be as lucky?

Read the full story that first appeared in Fair Planet here: