The long-tailed macaque is the monkey most commonly seen in Panaga. Cyclist riding early morning through F9 and F10 to the office are regularly entertained by an active group of these monkeys. It is fun to see them running around, often with several young playing in between the adults.
The long-tailed macaque ( Macaca fascicularis ) is also called crab-eating macaque because it is common in coastal forests including mangrove and beach, and along rivers where it can easily catch and eat crabs, frogs, or insects. But macaques love other foods as well such as ripe fruit. When there is an abundance of food around, the monkeys can use their cheek pouches for temporary storage.
Long-tailed macaques often travel in groups of 20 or 30 individuals containing two to four adult males, 6 to 11 adult females and the remainder immatures. Groups are often detected by their calls 'krra krra' but individuals tend to be very quiet. Males sometimes travel on their own or in small groups. Each group needs several tens of hectares to roam and look for food. Unlike other monkeys, the macaques spend a large proportion of their time active in low trees and thick shrub. They are active periodically from dawn until dusk.
Macaques sometimes live close to humans where they soon lose their shyness. They can become arrogant and even aggressive if fed too often by humans. They are often seen in F9 and F10 emptying waste-bins in search for food remains. Whenever the mango trees in F9 or F10 provide ripe fruits, groups of macaques are active. Do not try to interfere with a group of macaques, although they normally run away from humans, they can certainly attack when they feel too threatened. Solitary ones are normally no problem.
In 1994/1995, a solitary but particularly friendly female macaque frequently visited us in the E1 flats. At first she would only come on the balcony, but after getting used to us, she was not afraid to come through the open balcony door and investigate our room and kitchen. We let her move around freely. She only once stole a pot of sugar which slipped later from her hands and fell on the floor. Otherwise, she was well behaved and curious: explored the contents of our backpacks, finished a plate of spaghetti, helped herself to an after-eight - carefully opening the box and removing the wrap, checked the ongoing computer work, and consulted our piles of books. She was clearly a well-educated macaque. She is still regularly seen and photographed around E1.
© Panaga Natural History Society (PNHS)
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