Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Dietary pattern:
The analysis of the diet composition shows that 68% of
the consumed items were provisioned by humans. A very similar proportion
(70 percent) was reported by Fuentes
et al
. for the 1999-2001 period. Types
of provisioned food were similar during both studies, except for peanuts,
which were dramatically decreased in the diet (12.4 percent in 1999-2001
vs
. 3.2 percent in 2009). The decrease in peanut feeding followed the ini-
tiation of a restriction on tourists not to feed macaques with this carbo-
hydrate-rich food. According to veterinary researchers (Wandia, Rompis,
pers. comm.), the number of obesity cases of macaques at Padangtegal has
also decreased since 2002, possibly as a result of this management strat-
egy. Among natural food items found in the forest, macaques consistently
exploited forest vegetation (12.6 percent of diet), fruits (9 percent) and
invertebrates (8.2 percent).
In conclusion, the long-tailed macaques' activity and dietary patterns at
Padangtegal show some stability over time despite considerable changes
in demography. The population has grown at a high rate since 1998, and
this allows us to expect the same positive trend in the future. Current man-
agement practices at Padangtegal appear to be beneficial to macaques, as
shown by the continuous demographic growth and the decreased obesity
trend. This management could be maintained in the future, but consider-
ation needs to be given to the large increase in population size over the last
decade. Moreover, we have to keep in mind that this population is threat-
ened by the risks of inbreeding depression and increased disease transmis-
sion due to the close interface with humans.
*
According to the formula from Kurita
et al
. (2008): {(
N
2
/
N
1
)
1/ (year 2
-
year 1)
−1} * 100 wherein
N
1
,
N
2
=population size in year 1, year 2; year 2 - year 1=
the number of years between year 1 and year 2.
References
Kurita, H., Sugiyama, Y., Ohsawa, H., Hamada, Y., and Watanabe, T. 2008. Changes
in demographic parameters of
Macaca fuscata
at Takasakiyama in rela-
tion to decrease of provisioned foods.
International Journal of Primatology
29
: 1189-1202.
Wheatley, B. P. 1999.
The Sacred Monkeys of Bali
. Waveland Press, Inc.
Loudon J. E., H. M. E., and Fuentes A. 2006. The Importance of integrative
anthropology: A preliminary investigation employing primatological and cul-
tural anthropological data collection methods in assessing human-monkey
co-existence in Bali, Indonesia.
Ecological and Environmental Anthropology
2
(1): 1-13.
