A group of wildlife photographers and biologists has discovered a species of primate new to India in the wilderness of Arunachal Pradesh.
The white-cheeked macaque (Macaca leucogenys), which was spotted and photographed in Anjaw district in the eastern corner of the frontier state is, in fact, a species new to science. It was first reported by Li Cheng and his group from Modog in south-eastern Tibet in 2015.
Ranjan Kumar Das, Udayan Borthakur and Dilip Chetry, accompanied by professional bird guide Binanda Hatibarua, were on a bird-watching trip to the easternmost district of India in March 2015 when they sighted this primate.
A detailed examination of the photographs of a group of macaque captured by the wildlife activists during the trip, it has now been confirmed to be the white-cheeked macaque.
The species has been discovered on the basis of photographic records and it differs considerably from all potential sympatric macaque species, such as Rhesus macaque, Arunachal macaque, Tibetan macaque and Assamese macaque.
It exhibits a suite of pelage characteristics, including relatively uniform dorsal hair pattern, hairy ventral pelage, relative hairless short tail, prominent pale to white side and chin-whiskers creating a white cheek and a round facial appearance, dark facial skin on the muzzle, long and thick hair on its neck, and round rather than arrow-shaped male genitalia.
“On the basis of our observations, the photographs and experts’ comments, we have come to the conclusion that the macaques we spotted and photographed in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh are white-cheeked macaque,” Mr Chetry, a primatologist and the head of the primatology division at wildlife NGO Aaranyak said.
Mr Das, a bird expert from the region and associate professor in the department of geography at Tinsukia College, was able to get one of the first few photographs of this species during the trip.
“I am truly excited to be a part of this discovery and to contribute to the understanding of the species through my photography work,” he said.
Mr Borthakur, a wildlife photographer and head of the wildlife genetics division at Aaranyak, said that the discovery of the macaque would boost biodiversity conservation in the region.
