Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
(Das and Ghosal,
1977
; Fuentes,
2006
; Linkie
et al
.,
2007
; Richard
et al
.,
1989
; Sugardjito
et al
.,
1989
; Umapathy
et al
.,
2003
;,
1989
;
1999
). In Bali,
macaques frequently raid crops, such as rice, sweet potatoes, cassava, taro,
coconuts, bananas, and salak, around temple areas (Wheatley,
1989
,
1999
;
Louden
et al
.,
2006
; Fuentes,
2006
). In the Nicobar Islands of India, these
monkeys raid crops to such a degree that the local people set traps and use
dogs to kill the monkeys (Umapathy
et al
.,
2003
).
These reports indicate long-tailed macaques are crop raiders, but the actual
degree of crop raiding and crop damage they perform has yet to be fully inves-
tigated. One study at Kerinci Seblat National Park, Southern Sumatra partially
addressed the impact of long-tailed macaques as crop-raiders along with eleven
other large mammals (i.e., muntjac (
Muntiacus muntjak
), banded langurs
(
Presbytis melalophos
), pig-tailed macaques (
Macaca nemestrina
), porcupines
(
Hystrix brachyuran
), and wild pigs (
Sus scrofa
). Long-tailed macaques were
not amongst the most serious crop pests in this sample. (Linkie
et al
.,
2007
).
Perhaps, under less human-altered conditions, long-tailed macaques may not
be the most prolific crop raiders, which contrasts to the largely human-af-
fected locations around temples in Bali where macaques are serious crop pests
(Wheatley,
1989
; Wheatley
et al
.,
1996
).
A questionnaire survey conducted in villages just outside Gunung Leuser
National Park in North Sumatra showed that primates were the most destruc-
tive crop-raiders among vertebrate crop-raiders, with long-tailed macaques being
perceived by villagers to be the largest problem, especially for fruit crops (i.e.,
other primates included orangutans, langurs, and pig-tailed macaques, and other
vertebrates included elephants, pigs, deer, porcupines and squirrels) (Marchal
and Hill,
2009
). It is possible that in places like Gunung Leuser we are seeing the
effects of the early stages of human development along the borders of large tracts
of forest on wildlife. As more food sources become available, wildlife, espe-
cially macaques, can become more accustomed and dependent on the settlement.
Perhaps as human development continues in undeveloped forest regions we will
observe the development of closer, more proximate human-macaque interfaces.
Conclusions
Long-tailed macaques are one of the world's most populous primates and
extend over one of the largest geographical ranges of any primate. They are
also an edge species, and prefer to be on the periphery of forest environ-
ments. As a result, these monkeys overlap with humans in many locations
and thus affect the lives of millions of people. They inhabit most habitat
types across Southeast Asia and they have been carried beyond their original
