Case report on lethal dog attacks on adult rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in an anthropogenic landscape

Abstract

For nonhuman primates living in anthropogenic areas, predation by larger predators is relatively rare. However, smaller predators such as free-ranging as well as domesticated dogs can shape the socioecology of urban nonhuman primates, directly by attacking and predating upon them, or indirectly by modifying their activity patterns. Here, we describe 3 (2 potentially lethal) cases of dog attacks on adult rhesus macaques inhabiting an anthropogenic landscape in Northern India, and the circumstances surrounding these incidents. We discuss the importance of considering the presence of dogs while studying nonhuman primate populations across the anthropogenic gradient and its implications for understanding how human presence can directly and indirectly affect predator-prey relationship in these areas, as well as its potential role in modifying group social dynamics as well as in transmission of zoonotic agents.