Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
claimed to have ever reported the problem to the authorities at Burhanuddin
Helmi Residential College office. However, 87.8 percent of respondents recom-
mended that the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) set traps
to capture the macaques, while most of students (85.7 percent) did not agree of
poisoning or killing macaques to resolve human-macaque conflict. In addition,
25.4 percent recommended a more systematic and efficient schedule to collect
the rubbish from dumping areas in order to reduce nuisance problems.
Discussion
In this study, we found approximately 435 individuals in eight groups of
long-tailed macaques living on the UKM main campus. The high number of
macaques in UKM main campus is due to its location, which is adjacent to the
forest edge of UKM Permanent Forest Reserve. The macaques are drawn from
this edge into the campus because of the attractive food resources available.
One of the most common nuisances from the macaques on campus was tak-
ing items from trash (
Table 4.3
). Some of the factors that contribute to this high
frequency of the taking items from trash are the existence of many food sources,
the numerous trash bins, and the lack of appropriate lids and containment, which
all make it easy for long-tailed macaques to successful forage around the col-
lege residences. This finding is similar to those Omarrudin (
1995
) and Osman
(
1998
), who reported food resources in the garbage cans and dumping area to
be the main factor for the presence of long-tailed macaque at another university,
Universiti Malaya, in Kuala Lumpur. In addition, Eley and Else (
1984
) found
that messed trash bins was the main problem faced by certain hotels which were
built near primate populations. Suhailan (
2004
) who studied nuisance behav-
ior of long-tailed macaques in human settlement of West Country, Kajang,
Malaysia, reported the strong smell produced from trash bins had influenced
the macaques to search for food. Numerous studies also indicated the majority
of macaque-human interactions are related to locating and obtaining food (Pirta
et al
.,
1997
; Fuentes and Gamerl,
2005
; Fuentes
et al
.,
2005
).
Littering activity (i.e., macaques messing an area by carrying, moving, and
leaving human trash) was the second most frequent behavior observed in the
residential colleges. Littering activity normally occurred after taking items
from trash bins, and then dropping them elsewhere. Items such as plastic bags,
cans, papers, and other various rubbish were often thrown all over the place,
especially along corridors. Sia (
2005
) and Suhailan (
2004
) reported that the
long-tailed macaques were found carrying and leaving rubbish and plastic
bags on the main road and playground in human settlements. Medway (
1969
)
found that Penang Botanical Garden used to face the same problem when the
