Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
will need to be taken by wildlife management officials to both protect macaques
and humans from the negative consequences of their interface. Solutions will
vary depending on the context of the situation, as the macaque-human interface
occurs across a wide variety of differing circumstances (
Table 1.2
).
Types of human-macaque interface zones
Temples and religious sites
The most well known cases of human-macaque interface are at Hindu and
Buddhist temples in Indonesia and Thailand (Aggimarangsee,
1992
; Eudey,
1994; Hadi,
2005
; Fuentes,
2006
; Fuentes
et al
., Chapter 6; Fuentes
et al
.,
2005
; Jones-Engel
et al
.,
2002
; Malavijitnond
et al
.,
2005
; Malaivijitnond and
Hamada,
2008
; Wheatley,
1999
; Wheatley and Putra,
1994b
) (
Figure 1.4
). In
Thailand, around 40 temple or shrine areas have been reported to have semi-
tame long-tailed macaques (Eudey, 1994; Aggimarangsee,
1992
; Malaivijitnond
et al
.,
2005
; Malavijitnond and Hamada,
2008
), the most famous being Lopburi,
or the “City of Monkeys” (Malaivijitnond
et al
., Chapter 5). The monkey for-
ests of Ubud and Sangeh are well known as tourist spots in Bali, Indonesia,
and there are apparently 43 locations in Bali where macaques are associated
with temples (Fuentes
et al
.,
2005
, Chapter 6). There are also monkey temples
in Lombok, Indonesia (Hadi,
2005
) and in other countries such as Cambodia,
Vietnam and Myanmar (San and Hamada, Chapter 2).
At commercialized (i.e., areas promoted for tourism) monkey forest tem-
ples, like at Lopburi, Sangeh, and Ubud, tourists from all over the world visit
and feed long-tailed macaques on a daily basis. The benefit of tourism has gen-
erated a mutualistic relationship between the local communities and the mon-
keys. The people feed and attract macaques to the site, while the macaques are
responsible for bringing in tourists that provide revenue to the local community
(Wheatley and Putra,
1994b
; Wheatley and Putra,
1995
). Local people make
a living as photographers, tour guides, and merchants. The goods and services
provided include food for feeding the monkeys, photographs of tourists with
monkeys, guided tours, protection from aggressive monkeys, retrieval of items
taken by monkeys, local artwork, souvenirs, and refreshments. In Lopburi,
annual celebrations occur for the monkeys that bring in large crowds of people
and sponsors. Moreover, the local tourist industry utilizes the macaques as
their main attraction, having monkey hotels, monkey restaurants, a monkey-
themed train station, and even a locally-brewed monkey beer.
The relationship between long-tailed macaques and people at temple sites is
not all mutualistic. Macaques are conditioned to see humans as food sources and
