Abhishek Jamalabad
07-12-2018, 11:19 AM
Arunachal Macaque (Macaca munzala) | Tawang, Nov 2018
This is a species that is presently known to be restricted to a few small populations, in a very small high elevation pocket of Arunachal and Bhutan.
For a mammal, this species was formally described quite recently, and unusually, it was described based on good quality photographs, not a specimen. It is identifiable by its tail length, dark tones on the fur (though somewhat variable), and a few very distinct features around the face (including a dark streak on the crown, and very prominent dark lines running sideways from the eyes to the temples).
"Munzala" means "deep forest monkey" in the Monpa language of the region. Although they do inhabit forests and are more shy than other macaques, they also stray close to human habitation for food - sadly, to hillside garbage dumps as well. This one was foraging on a man-made lawn at the edge of a scrub & rhododendron forest, I'm not sure what exactly it was eating. I took only a few photos, as this troop was socialising a lot and I did not want to intrude too much.
Canon 760D, Canon 100-400mm L IS USM (at 285mm)
SS 1/800
Av 5.6
ISO 800
This is a species that is presently known to be restricted to a few small populations, in a very small high elevation pocket of Arunachal and Bhutan.
For a mammal, this species was formally described quite recently, and unusually, it was described based on good quality photographs, not a specimen. It is identifiable by its tail length, dark tones on the fur (though somewhat variable), and a few very distinct features around the face (including a dark streak on the crown, and very prominent dark lines running sideways from the eyes to the temples).
"Munzala" means "deep forest monkey" in the Monpa language of the region. Although they do inhabit forests and are more shy than other macaques, they also stray close to human habitation for food - sadly, to hillside garbage dumps as well. This one was foraging on a man-made lawn at the edge of a scrub & rhododendron forest, I'm not sure what exactly it was eating. I took only a few photos, as this troop was socialising a lot and I did not want to intrude too much.
Canon 760D, Canon 100-400mm L IS USM (at 285mm)
SS 1/800
Av 5.6
ISO 800