Abstract: A quantitative analysis of the diurnal variation of activity budget of a free ranging group of Golden lagur (Trachypithecus geei) was carried out to find out the time allotment in various activities throughout the day time. The study was conducted in Chakrashila WLS of Assam during July, 2016 to June, 2017. The study group spent a highest of 23.5% on feeding followed by 20.1% on monitoring, 19.6% on locomotion, 12% on resting, 11.1% on grooming, 6.6% on play and remaining 7.3% on other behaviour. Study on the diurnal variation of the activity profile showed that the group had bimodal peak on feeding activity during morning and evening hour, but less feeding activities during mid-day. Locomotion always coincides with feeding activity throughout the day. Less time spent on resting activity during morning in comparison to time spent during mid day and evening hours. Interestingly, three distinct peak of grooming recorded during morning, mid-day and evening hour. It clearly indicates that foraging might be the most crucial factor responsible for the variation in the diurnal activity profiles. In forest, as the food was randomly distributed, the group cost-effectively arranged their total time and spent more time on foraging, locomotion and resting and less time in grooming, monitoring and play activities. These findings clearly demonstrated that nature of distribution of food resource is the guiding force for allocating time to various activities in different habitats.
Keywords: Golden langur, Trachypithecus geei, activity budget, diurnal variation.
Title: Diurnal activity budgeting of Golden langur (Trachypithecus geei) in Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary of Assam, India
Author: Anindita Bhattacharya, Surat Zamal, Prabal Sarkar
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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