Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Public education and outreach
Educating the public remains a cornerstone of our strategy in dealing with
human-macaque conflict over the long term. Public events, such as the
“Monkey Blitz” are conducted, where groups of volunteers go to the parks
and advise and educate people about not feeding monkeys. NParks has also
organized talks, seminars and guided walks in an effort to enlighten the pub-
lic on macaque social behavior, reduce human-macaque conflict through the
promotion of coexistence, and point out that artificial feeding contributes to
an unnatural increase in the macaque population.
Trapping
Public complaints regarding conflict with macaques between 2001 and 2007
(N = 2115, mean 302 per year) have more than doubled from the annual
average of complaints recorded between 1996 and 2000 (N = 590, mean
118 per year) (Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority,
in litt
.). In cases where
monkeys are reported to be causing a nuisance to residents or members of
the public, each case is investigated and monitored either by an NParks or
AVA officer before action is taken. This is because not all monkey nuisance
cases warrant trapping. In some cases, the nuisance arises due to a lapse
in human housekeeping such as not securing a refuse chute, or a domestic
helper or family member who is feeding a monkey in the backyard of the
house. These cases are easily avoided with advice and constant reminders
to residential areas. If a monkey is found to be aggressive and coming back
regularly to a house or park to cause a nuisance, a trapping cage is set up to
capture and cull the individual.
Island-wide population assessments
Surveys for macaque troops and understanding their distribution in
Singapore are crucial for macaque population control, predicting likely
areas of human-macaque conflict in relation to land-use planning (Sha
et al
.,
2009a
). Several attempts were made to census the macaque popu-
lation in Singapore in the past and numbers ranged from less than 1,000
individuals counted by the members of the then Malayan Nature Society
(Singapore Branch) in August 1986 (Lucas,
1995
) to a more definite 635
individuals in forested areas of both the Bukit Timah and Central Catchment
Nature Reserves (Agoramoorthy and Hsu,
2006
). One must note that both
of these surveys did not include population assessments of macaques in
the offshore islands and urban areas. To date, the most thorough census of
M. fascicularis
in Singapore estimated the total population to be between
1,218 and 1,454 individuals on both mainland and her offshore islands in a
study commissioned by NParks and AVA (Sha
et al
.,
2009a
). In comparison
