Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 13.1. A juvenile long-tailed macaque using a small stone hammer to axe
at oysters attached to boulders along an island rocky shore in the Andaman Sea. A
tradition found only in this small region of the long-tailed macaque distribution.
(Photograph curtsey of M. D. Gumert.)
on the ecological effects of long-tailed macaques can provide a science-based
perspective on this issue.
One of the first steps in solving issues related to ethnophoretic long-tailed
macaques is to determine what are the major factors involved in allow-
ing this species to become an ecological success after introduction. Long-
tailed macaques have been carried to and released onto Mauritius (Sussman
and Tattersall,
1981
), Ngeaur Island, Palau (Poirier and Smith,
1974
), West
Papua (Kemp and Burnett,
2007
), and Kabaena Island, Sulawesi (Froehlich
et al
.,
2003
). The two islands that report the greatest impact are Mauritius
(Padayatchy, Chapter 9) and Ngeaur Island (Wheatley, Chapter 10), while West
Papua (Kemp and Burnett,
2007
) and Kabaena (Froehlich
et al
.,
2003
) do not
provide any strong evidence that the long-tailed macaques there have become
a seriously invasive exotic species. Exploring the differences between these
two sets of islands will provide us with a basis for predicting what conditions
lead to these so-called long-tailed macaque invasions. Such understanding may
help to prevent future translocations, and possibly alleviate some of the prob-
lems in areas that have already been colonized.
Mauritius and Ngeuar Island have a few similarities that could account for
the long-tailed macaque's success on these two islands. Both islands have
