In which of the following States is lion-tailed macaque found in its natural habitat? Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Answer: (a) 1, 2 and 3 only

Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka — the three Western Ghats States where it lives.

Statement by statement

1. ✓ YES Found in the Anamalai and Nilgiri forests of Tamil Nadu.

2. ✓ YES Silent Valley in Kerala is its best-known home.

3. ✓ YES Found in the Western Ghats forests of Karnataka.

4. ✗ NO Andhra Pradesh has no Western Ghats.

The idea

The lion-tailed macaque lives only in the wet evergreen rainforest of the Western Ghats, high in the canopy, and rarely comes to the ground. So it can be found only in States that have that forest.

Rainforest canopy of the Western Ghats → Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka → Tea, coffee and roads cut the forest into patches → Troops are cut off from each other → Endangered

The trap

“Western Ghats only” settles it.

Also know

It has a silver-white mane round a black face and a tuft at the end of its tail. Other primates found only in the Western Ghats: the Nilgiri langur. Rope bridges across roads have been put up for these monkeys in the Anamalai hills.