A Scream Unheard
<p>In India, the Nicobar long-tailed, or crab-eating macaque, is found on just three islands of its namesake archipelago – Great Nicobar, Little Nicobar, and Katchal. This subpopulation is listed as Vulnerable, but not much is known of its population dynamics following the 2004 tsunami, that is suspected to have obscured much of its habitat. This coupled with anthropogenic habitat destruction and some amount of retaliatory hunting means that the population trend is decreasing. Indigenous islanders are exempt from India’s <em>Wildlife Protection Act</em>, 1972, and can hunt for sustenance but not commerce. This macaque, ensnared by a nylon trap, bares its fangs in anguish and terror, its wound raw where the rope cuts cruelly into its flesh.</p>
<p><em>Image: Shashank Dalvi, Conservation Mention, Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2016 </em></p>
