The Crop Feeding Behavior of Rhesus Macaques in a Forest-Farm Mosaic in Central Nepal: Implications for Human-Wildlife Coexistence.

Human-driven habitat change is forcing nonhuman primates to exploit anthropogenic landscapes, resulting in primate crop feeding, reduced farmer food security, and human-primate conflict. Here, we investigate the crop feeding behavior of a wild group of rhesus macaques in a farm-forest mosaic in central Nepal. Macaque behavioral data were collected over 12 months using scan- and all-occurrence sampling methods, along with monitoring crop availability. We evaluated the relationship between macaque feeding behavior, crop type, availability, damage, and farmers' actions to reduce crop damage. We found that ~49% of the macaque's annual diet was composed of cultivated crops, with three crops-maize, oranges, and potatoes-accounting for ~52% of macaque crop feeding time. There was a significant positive association between monthly crop productivity and macaque feeding time on these crops. Local farmers attempted to deter macaque crop feeding 83.1% of the time, but their efforts failed to reduce crop damage. During the maize cultivation season, total maize damage caused by macaques was estimated at 1647 kg (~50 kg/ha) of dry kernels, resulting in a loss of 1.5% of total maize yield per hectare. Thus, macaque crop feeding had only a limited effect on farmer food security. We propose a set of practical and low-cost actions that can be taken to continue the current balance between the dietary needs of the rhesus macaques and the economic needs of farm families in the local community.