School of Natural Sciences and Engineering

The Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation Programme

Faculty

• Prof. Anindya Sinha
• Dr. Sindhu Radhakrishna
  

The Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation Programme has been largely exploring the ecology, behaviour, cognition, genetics and conservation status of several species and populations of primates across the country. The principal projects it is involved in include long-term studies on the demography, behavioural ecology, population genetics and conservation of two macaque species, the bonnet macaque of southern India and the Arunachal macaque of Arunachal Pradesh, short-term studies on the behavioural ecology of mixed troops of rhesus and bonnet macaques in Maharashtra, the community ecology and conservation of primates in Assam, and the ecology and conservation status of the liontailed macaque and slender loris in southern India and the slow loris in northeastern India.

We have also initiated a new collaborative project on the behavioural genetics, exploring the serotonin uptake pathway, in three species of macaques. Our theoretical interests lie in the analysis and modelling of the structure and dynamics of primate societies, primarily based on the behavioural data on bonnet macaques that have accumulated over the years. Finally, the Programme has been exploring the ecology and behaviour of several non-primate species including pygmy hogs, flying squirrels, shortwings and flying lizards!

Goals of the Programme, 2008-2009

1. The town monkey and the forest monkey: Ecology, demography, behaviour and conservation of southern Indian macaques
2. The lost children of the seven sisters: Ecology, behaviour and conservation of macaques and gibbons in northeastern India
3. In our genes: Evolutionary, population and behavioural genetics of Indian macaques
4. Midnight’s children: Distribution, ecology and conservation of the two Indian nocturnal prosimians in southern and northeastern India
5. Modelling monkeys: Theoretical analysis and computational modelling of the structure and dynamics of primate societies
6. The non-primate agenda: Ecology, behaviour, genetics and conservation of reptiles, birds and mammals of southern and northeastern India

The Programme Team, 2008-2009

• Anindya Sinha, Professor
  
• Sindhu Radhakrishna, Associate Professor
  
• Rishi Kumar, Research Scholar
  
• Mayukh Chatterjee, Research Scholar
  
• Narayan Sharma, Research Scholar
  
• Robin Vijayan, Research Scholar
  
• Debapriyo Chakraborty, Junior Research Fellow
  
• Subhankar Chakraborty, Junior Research Fellow
  
• Nandini R, Research Associate
  
• H N Kumara, Research Associate

External Collaborators

• Rajesh Kasturirangan, School of Humanities, NIAS
  
• Charudutt Mishra, Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore
  
• M D Madhusudan, Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore
  
• Uma Ramakrishnan, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore
  
• Suhel Quader, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore
  
• Sitabhra Sinha, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
  
• Goutam Narayan, Ecosystems India, Guwahati
  
• Atul Gupta, Tripura Forest Department, Agartala
  
• Kakoli Mukhopadhyay, Independent Researcher
  
• Ajith Kumar, Postgraduate Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Bangalore
  
• Swapna N, Postgraduate Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Bangalore
  
• Robin Abraham, Postgraduate Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Bangalore
  
• Dipti Hamraskar, Postgraduate Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Bangalore
  
• Jayendra Baliga, Postgraduate Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Bangalore
  
• Nishant S, Postgraduate Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Bangalore
  
• Sumithra Sankaran, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun
  
• Shreya Bhat, Pondicherry University, Puducherry
  
• Anirban Datta-Roy, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore
  
• Michael Alan Huffman, Primate Research Institute, Inuyama, Japan
  
• F Stephen Dobson, Auburn University, Auburn, USA