Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
across their range, and some of it may represent unique local traditions. For
example, in the Kupang Cave of East Timor, long-tailed macaques were
observed in the past to regularly sleep in caves (Tenaza,
1996
). In Sumatra and
Kalimantan, three groups of long-tailed macaques have been observed to catch
and eat fish (Stewart
et al
.,
2008
). In Lopburi, Thailand they use fibers, human
hair, and wooden picks to clean and floss their teeth (Watanabe
et al
.,
2007
).
The behavioral variant of most significance occurs in the Andaman sea region
of Thailand and Myanmar, where long-tailed macaques (
M. f. aurea
) customar-
ily use stone tools to open shellfish in intertidal zones along shores and islands
(Carpenter,
1887
; Malaivijitnond
et al
.,
2007
; Gumert
et al
., 2009a). Here they
exhibit a form of hammering not typically seen in other stone using primates
(Gumert
et al
.,
2009
b) (
Figure 13.1
). Nothing is known about the extent of this
cultural behavior in Myanmar, but in Thailand it occurs in at least five locations
close to the Myanmar border (Gumert
et al
.,
2010
).
At the time of writing, only two of the five known tool-using sites are
protected areas, which are two neighboring islands, Piak Nam Yai and Thao
Island, in Laemson National Park. Despite this protection, serious encroach-
ment is occurring on both islands. Congruent with van Schaik's (
2002
) fragil-
ity of traditions hypothesis, human activity is disturbing this behavior. On Piak
Nam Yai Island, local people have recently established a settlement (Gumert
et al
.,
2010
). They have established a palm oil plantation and also hunt, farm,
and harvest other resources from the island. They introduced domestic dogs
in 2008, and since then the dog population has grown and the dogs frequently
attack the macaques when they are using tools on the open shores and man-
groves. The macaque group closest to the human settlement appears to have
decreased in size between 2008 and 2009, and now spends less time on the
shores (Gumert
et al
.,
2010
). The problem is that Laemson National Park may
be the only location in Southeast Asia where this behavioral tradition occurs
on legally protected land, and even there, protection appears to not be well
enforced. An assesment of this tradition, in terms of geopraphic distribution
and number of macaques who follow it is needed in order to adopt an appro-
priate conservation strategy.
Understanding ethnophoresy and colonization
Their listing as one of the World's Worst 100 Invasive Alien Species (Lowe
et al
.,
2000
) has raised major concerns in the conservation community about
the presence of long-tailed macaques on islands outside of their original range
(Kemp and Burnett,
2007
). It also may have contributed to a negative attitude
towards conserving these macaques even in their natural range. Further data
