Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
themselves additional revenue. Small planters who for years had suffered from
damage to their crops inflicted by monkeys found themselves in a win-win situ-
ation from the humans' perspective. First by trapping monkeys, BCM helped
to control the population in the area, hence less damage to the crops. Second,
BCM paid for every monkey caught, which in some ways, compensated for the
damaged crops. In 1989, a second permit was delivered to another company,
nowadays known as Noveprim. For more than ten years, these two companies
were the only ones in the field, and then the industry suddenly mushroomed
with one joint-venture of Bioculture (Mauritius) Ltd, Biodia Ltd operating on
its own and the government giving permits to three other companies.
The attractiveness of the Mauritian long-tailed macaque as a potential can-
didate for biomedical research is due to its unique viral profile and naturally
occurring specific pathogen free (SPF) status (i.e., free from Herpes-B, SIV
(Simian immunodeficiency viruses), SRV(Simian retrovirus) and STLV1
(Simian T-Lymphotropic virus Type 1). This status is very important under
research conditions as it confers a safer working environment for the research-
ers. The naturally occurring SPF status would suggest that animals brought to
Mauritius were very young, not yet sexually mature, and would hence support
the theory of the animals being transported as pets which were either acciden-
tally or deliberately released on the island, rather than a deliberate introduction
for meat source which would have included a mature stock of animals.
Interestingly, from 1985, when trapping of monkeys started, until 2005,
an estimated maximum of 4,000 animals were removed on an annual basis.
Without clear studies of the population, there was no noticeable impact on the
remaining population, as the proportion of male vs. female, adult vs. juven-
ile appeared fairly constant. This would suggest that the population might
have been even higher than the estimated 40,000 in 1994. However, in the
years 2005-2008, the island witnessed an unprecedented wave of trapping of
monkeys - mostly due to expanding new companies. Whether this has had
an impact on the monkey population dynamics remains to be studied (see
Sussman, Chapter 8, for a preliminary assessment), What is certain is that it
has been noticed that in general the macaques have become neo-phobic and
trap-shy. Since 2009 however, the trapping of long-tailed macaques has under-
gone a major slowdown with some companies not trapping at all. This was
mostly due to economical reasons with the global financial crisis.
Macaca fascicularis
, the conservationist
It is ironic that a species that has for decades has been maligned as one of the
major culprits in the downfall of Mauritius' native fauna and flora, is today
