A rare visitor in Kollam

April 27, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:51 am IST - KOLLAM:

LONE RANGER:The Lion-tailed macaque spotted near Kollam.— Photo: C. Suresh Kumar

LONE RANGER:The Lion-tailed macaque spotted near Kollam.— Photo: C. Suresh Kumar

Though Kerala is home to Lion-tailed macaques, the animals live only in some pockets of the dense jungles of the southern portion of the Western Ghats and it is rare to find them near human habitations.

But now people in many pockets on the outskirts of Kollam city have a lion-tailed macaque in their midst.

But forgetting its habitat and natural menu, a lone adult male Lion-tailed macaque sighted in human habitats of Kollam since the past one month is proving wrong the adage “you can take a monkey out of the jungle, but you can’t take the jungle out of a monkey”.

Mystery shrouds its sudden appearance in human habitats.

But this old world monkey is now feeling quite at home among people. It was first spotted near a temple in Thazhuthala near Kottiyam.

After three days it disappeared and was spotted in some nearby areas. Then suddenly it has now reached Sambrankodu on the banks of the Ashtamudi Lake some 30 kms away from Kottiyam.

Wherever it goes, people are feeding it. Ripe jackfruit pods, coconut kernels, mangoes, peanuts and bananas have now become the delicacies of this lion-tailed macaque. It has even started entering houses at Sambranikodu demanding food.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.