Animal Behaviour and Cognition

Programme About

Over the course of the year 2020-21, Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme members worked on various projects funded by national (DST, ISRO) and international (ERC) organisations. The major focus was to investigate drivers of human-primate conflicts, the impact of land use changes on human primate co-existence, object recognition and tool manufacture on wild bonnet macaques and behavioural ecology of lion-tailed macaques.  Studies related to the urban ecologies of wild and feral species in Delhi and Guwahati, interactions between Asian elephants and human communities in southern India, the determinants of social decision making in a megafish Deccan Mahseer, people’s perceptions of endangered fishes and costs of human food choices were also carried out.

Programme Head
Sindhu Sindhu Radhakrishna
Professor and Head
School: School of Natural Sciences and Engineering
Programme: Animal Behaviour and Cognition
Room no: S 23
+91-080-2218 5115
sindhu.radhakrishna@gmail.com
Faculty
Abhijit Konwar
Doctoral Student
Phone:
E-mail:
people
Professor
Phone:
Tel: 080-2218 5117 Fax: 080-2218 5028
E-mail:
anindya.rana.sinha@gmail.com
Anmol Chowdhury
Doctoral Student
Phone:
E-mail:
Post-Doctoral Associate
Phone:
080-22185054
E-mail:
arijitpal@nias.res.in
PhD Scholar
Phone:
080-22185052
E-mail:
toamitmukherjee@gmail.com
G Umapathy
Adjunct Faculty
Phone:
E-mail:
Hashim
Doctoral Student
Phone:
E-mail:
lapizlazuli131@gmail.com
Karshita
Doctoral Student
Phone:
E-mail:
karshitabharati97@gmail.com
Nitesh S Anchan
Doctoral Student
Phone:
080-22185052
E-mail:
toamitmukherjee@gmail.com
Sayan Banerjee
Doctoral Student
Phone:
080-22185052
E-mail:
sayan@nias.res.in, sayan.workspace@gmail.com
Post-Doctoral Associate
Phone:
E-mail:
Shruti Ragavan
Doctoral Student
Phone:
E-mail:
Sindhu
Professor
Phone:
+91-080-2218 5115
E-mail:
sindhu.radhakrishna@gmail.com
Sneha Gutgutia
Doctoral Student
Phone:
E-mail:
Doctoral Student
Phone:
080-22185052
E-mail:
toamitmukherjee@gmail.com
Sreshtha Mondal
Doctoral Student
Phone:
E-mail:
titir
Doctoral Student
Phone:
E-mail:
titirdebnath29@gmail.com
Binoy
Associate Professor
Phone:
080-22185156, Mobile: +917829496778
E-mail:
vvbinoy@gmail.com, vvbinoy@nias.res.in
Post-Doctoral Associate
Phone:
E-mail:
Primate Behaviourial Ecology

Research studies in this area include population dynamics of lion-tailed macaques in the western ghats, intraspecific variation in the slender loris, the cognitive bases of object manipulation and tool manufacture by wild bonnet macaques, food object recognition by bonnet macaques, decision- making during crop-raiding by rhesus macaques, and mitigation techniques to address macaque crop-raiding behaviour.

Ethnoprimatology

Projects that fall under subdisciplinary rubric address all aspects pertaining to the human-primate interface. Some of the more recent studies include exploring the representation of monkeys in regional literature, cultural and religious views of macaques, perceptions of people vis-à-vis problem primates, role of land use patterns in shaping human primate con flict and factors the drive the initiation and escalation of human-primate conflict.

Human-Elephant Interactions

The studies on human- elephant relations focus on how elephants survive and persist in fragmented, in southern and northeastern India by adopting novel behaviourial strategies.

Piscine Behaviour and Conservation

Projects under this theme cover topics such as behaviour of subterranean fishes, impact of anthropogenic activities on the survival status of indigenous fish, management of invasive fishes, and social decision making in megafishes.

Urban Ecologies

These set of studies focus on a range of wild, feral and cultivated species in the Indian cities of Delhi and Guwahati and provides insights into what urbanisation might entail for these other than-human species. More specifically, the studies explore how etho-geographical understandings can potentially contribute to our understanding of the political ecologies of urbanization, .and its implications for urban design and development policies.

Other Research

Other studies undertaken by Programme members include projects on the ecological costs of human food choices in India, cross-cultural musical exchanges in colonial India, sense making of warning messages broadcasted during cyclones, and the impact of COVID on science communication.

All these studies are essentially cross-disciplinary in nature and involve collaborators from various disciplinary backgrounds from both within the institute and outside.

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Anmol Chowdhury
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Sayan Banerjee
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Anindya Sinha
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In keeping with the mandate of the Institute, the Programme members have always considered outreach to be an important component of their professional activities. The goal behind engaging in outreach activities is to bring to popular attention the import of research carried out by the Programme, train young students in research methodology related to ecology, animal behaviour and cognition, and disseminate results of research in public forums.

Outreach activities include training workshops for students and lay citizens, popular articles, media reports and interviews, lectures in professional forums and talks.

Over the course of the past year Programme members taught courses or gave lectures in courses on the Philosophy of Science and Conservation, Social Cognition and Consciousness in Primates, Basic Primatology, Behavioural Ecology, Consciousness, Cognition and Collective Intelligence, Research and Publication Ethics, Human-Environment Interactions, and Methods in Ethology.

Programme members’ work on human-primate interactions was widely reported in the media, chiefly, The Hindu, the Times of India, The Wire and Roundglass Sustain.