Status of urban populations of the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) in West Sumatra, Indonesia

• Published in: Primates Vol. 58; no. 2; pp. 295 - 305
• Main Authors: Ilham, Kurnia, Rizaldi, Nurdin, Jabang, Tsuji, Yamato
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01-04-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Ecology; Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cities; Demographics; Demography; Diet; Evolutionary Biology; Feeding Behavior; Female; Food; Habitats; Indonesia; Infants; Life Sciences; Macaca fascicularis - physiology; Male; Monkeys & apes; Original Article; Population Dynamics; Population number; Urban populations; Zoology; Sumatra; Indonesia; Diet; Long-tailed macaque; Urban habitat; Demographic profiles; Provisioning
• ISSN: 0032-8332; 1610-7365
• DOI: 10.1007/s10329-016-0588-1

We studied long-tailed macaque (
Macaca fascicularis
) populations in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, focusing on the effect of human provisioning on their demography and dietary composition. We conducted a field survey at three sites in the city: Gunung Meru, Gunung Padang, and Gunung Panggilun. Mean troop size (range 28–68) and infant ratio (range 0.38–1.00) were greater in Gunung Meru, where the macaques have been highly provisioned, than at the other two study sites (troop size 10–15; infant ratio 0.00–0.33). The macaques at all sites consumed both natural and human foods, but dependence on the latter differed among sites: three-quarters of the diet of macaques in Gunung Meru consisted of human foods, while human foods comprised less than 5% of the macaque diet at the other sites. The ability of macaques to modify the proportion of human food is a behavioral flexibility that facilitates the survival of the long-tailed macaque in urban habitats. Without restrictions on provisioning, the degree of dependence of macaques on human foods and population size could increase, especially in Gunung Meru, and human–macaque conflict could escalate. In order to create an effective management policy for urbanized monkeys, long-term quantitative data on macaque behavior and monitoring of population parameters are required.