Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
facing population-threatening pressures, as modernization increases the ability
of villagers to exterminate monkey pests.
Where macaques live in close proximity to human settlements, their diets
are supplemented to varying degrees from the food sources produced from
the settlement (Wheatley
et al
.,
1996
). In towns and cities, macaques will
raid homes, feed off refuse, and wait along roads for handouts from cars.
Near villages, macaques also raid homes and trash heaps, as well as farms
and gardens. To help alleviate conflict, people in some sites build barriers
and use fencing or caging to block access by the monkeys into their homes
and yards (
Figure 1.6
). Other people use different forms of scare tactics such
as sticks, slingshots, or firecrackers, and sometimes macaques are culled or
removed at times when conflict becomes too great for the affected community
(Di Silva,
2008
; Sha
et al
.,
2009a
; Sha
et al
.,
2009b
; Twigg and Nijman,
2008
;
Wheatley and Putra,
1994a
). Macaques also face other dangers specific to human
landscapes. They are at risk of human aggression, they move around and utilize
electrical wiring for travel, and frequently move on roads (
Figure 1.7
), presenting
the risk of injury and fatality. In Singapore and Hong Kong, automobile acci-
dents represent a large proportion of mortality (Sha
et al
.,
2009a
; Wong,
1994
).
Eco-tourist lodges
Long-tailed macaques have close contact with humans around some eco-tourist
facilities. A case example of this occurs at Tanjung Puting National Park, in
Kalimantan where a group of ~50 long-tailed macaques live around the Rimba
Orangutan Eco-lodge (Gumert,
2007
). These macaques used to take food from
the waste piles behind the lodge (
Figure 1.8
a) and also scavenged around the
lodge looking for food (
Figure 1.8
b), particularly focusing in the kitchen area.
They were also often observed waiting above the kitchen each morning, when
leftover food was thrown out and while lodge cooks prepared food for the day.
In the afternoons, the monkeys often foraged through the lodge searching for
food and litter left out by the hotel staff and guests, or doors and windows left
open that provided access to food stores. Conflict mainly occurred between the
macaques and the staff permanently living at the facility, and only on a few
occasions were the tourists disturbed or threatened by them.
Pets and performing macaques
The interface that long-tailed macaques have with humans has led to the prob-
lem of a high abundance of macaques being taken into captivity (Eudey, 1994;
