Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
state that their interviews revealed that the local people “had no desire to rid
the island of monkeys” but “only to prevent crop damage.” Several men told
us that children especially seemed to enjoy the macaques. Several women also
mentioned that monkeys were cute and smart and another woman said that she
liked monkeys.
A survey conducted in Ngeaur by Marsh-Kautz and Singeo (1999) lists the
monkey as the top-ranked pest causing the most damage and as the most dif-
ficult pest to control. Other pests listed are the shrew, rat, mouse, fruit fly, and
taro viruses. Probably the most serious problem caused by these macaques is
the damage to the taro gardens that are primarily in the swampy southern part of
the island. Taro and other root crops are the staple agricultural foods of Palau.
The taro gardens are small plots but give Palauan women great prestige in this
matrilineal culture. “It is their life,” they say, “One cannot breathe without
taro.” Women use taro to meet household and ceremonial food requirements
as well as exchange obligations. The people typically roast, bake or boil taro
corms. One woman said that the macaques ate the tender green shoots which
spoiled the whole taro plant. They also stated that the macaques watched them
plant which may attract them later when the plants were unguarded. A chief
mentioned that the collective farms set up to help feed tourists were destroyed
by macaques.
While macaques will damage gardens and crops, the extent of the damage is
unknown. Poirier and Farslow (
1984
), Poirier and Smith (
1974
), and Farslow
(
1987
) all state that reports of extensive crop damage were unsubstantiated.
Although some troops of macaques range in the southern swampy part of the
island where most of the taro gardens are located, most of the monkey popula-
tion ranges in the northern part of the Island (Farslow,
1987
). In both areas, the
macaques primarily feed in the forests (Farslow,
1987
).
Eradication programs
Ngeaur has had numerous eradication programs to hunt, kill, and trap macaques.
They are not eaten or sold as bush meat: they are buried or said to be fed to pigs
or crocodiles (Wheatley
et al
.,
1999b
). Some of the captured young are kept
as pets or sold (
Figure 10.3
). The macaques were killed for sport, food, and
medicinal purposes during the Japanese occupation (Poirier and Smith,
1974
).
A law passed in 1975 called for the complete eradication of the macaques as
pests (Whaley,
1992
). A year-long field study on the macaques of Ngeaur, by
Farslow (
1987
) estimated that over 90 animals or 10% of the population were
killed from 1980 to 1981. Farslow also describes two occasions when he was
pinned down by ricocheting bullets from hunters of monkeys in the northern
