Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
and Harya Putra,
1994
; Wheatley and Harya Putra,
1995
; Wheatley,
1999
;
Fuentes
et al
.,
2005
; Lane
et al
.,
2010
). Moreover, these studies have inves-
tigated how the local communities relate to their macaques and the efforts
they have taken to sustain them. These programs have established ties with
local universities, governmental agencies, and NGO's, and have played a
strong role in tying the human-macaque community together.
The type of information generated from research programs is an invalu-
able starting point for beginning to think through the strategies necessary to
develop sustainable human-macaque communities. Research programs are
also beginning in Singapore (Gumert
et al
.,
2009
; Sha
et al
.,
2009a
,
2009b
;
Fuentes
et al
.,
2008
), and if sustained in the long-term will be resources
for the human-macaque communities there as well. Long-term research pro-
vides data on several factors: demographics, the behavior and temperaments
of individual macaques, human-macaque interactions, and human attitudes
and perceptions. Moreover, long-term research provides the only basis for
(a)
Figure 13.2. Human-impact changes the ecology affecting long-tailed macaques.
How humans feed them varies the distribution of food. (a) At Ulu Watu temple in
Bali, macaques are provisioned daily on platforms with potatoes and other foods;
(b) At an eco-lodge in Kalimantan, rice and trash are thrown out randomly for the
macaques depending on activity at the lodge. Human aggression also changes select-
ive pressures on macaque populations; (c) At a temple in Petchaburi Thailand, people
repel monkeys by using sling shots, which can be damaging but not lethal. In contrast,
at a small village in Kalimantan; (d) people trap macaques in nets and kill them.
(Photographs curtesy of M. D. Gumert.)
evaluating the success of attempted conflict resolution strategies. Personnel
from such research projects will also be important interlocutors between the
macaques and their surrounding communities, playing an integral role in
educating communities, advising governments, and enlisting and supervis-
ing the support of NGOs working on problems occurring in human-macaque
interface zones.
Conclusion
Despite the ubiquity of long-tailed macaques across the region, we still have
an impoverished understanding of the most common monkey of Southeast
Asia. Future research directions will need to focus on better understanding
