Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
negative attitudes towards the macaques. The monkeys were chased off when
they ventured inside buildings. At Kosumphi Forest Park where the golden
long-tailed macaques appeared (5.2 percent of the total population, Hamada
et al
.,
2005b
), the local residents used this to advertise for Monkey Buffet
Festival (
Figure 5.9
b). Most of people here have a positive attitude to monkeys
and have established a plan for conservation.
At some locations, interview reports indicate that monkeys damaged crops
and houses during the dry season when the natural foods are scarce and thus they
are viewed as pests. Residents living around these populations protected their
houses with metal fencing and television antennae with steel guards that blocked
the macaques from climbing them (Malaivijitnond and Hamada,
2008
).
Preliminary interviews and field observations at Lopburi
Human and macaque groups
Our work at Lopburi is very preliminary and largely descriptive at this point.
In our preliminary observations at Lopburi we estimated that there were
five troops. The largest group used two shrines and adjacent school grounds
(400-450 individuals). Another group was based at an abandoned Malai Rama
Theater behind Prang Sam Yot (110-150 individuals). A third group was con-
centrated around the fire station including Manora Market (140-190 individ-
uals). A fourth large troop (180-240 individuals) resided directly south of the
Prang Sam Yot shrine on residential buildings and Sri Indra Hotel. The fifth and
smallest troop was usually found near the Prang Khaek shrine (70-80 individ-
uals). Preliminary counts suggested that there were approximately 900-1150
individuals in the Old City area, and this is much lower than the amount esti-
mated by the sterilization program. The macaques are mostly concentrated
within a 1 km
2
area in the center part of town. However, interview answers
regarding the macaque population show that people estimate a larger number
than there actually are. People reported personal estimations of macaques in
Lopburi to range between 1,500-4,000 and the estimated number of groups
ranged between three and eight.
Human groups coming into contact and interacting with macaques could be
split into two broad categories: local and non-local. Locals consisted of people
living and/or working in Lopburi, who were mostly Thai nationals. Non-locals
included domestic and international tourists or visitors who tended to spend
just a few hours or overnight within the Old City area, most of whom came to
see the main attractions in town and the monkeys.
