Guest guest Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 Dear Friends, Can anyone help me with answers regarding problem with long tailed macaques? The malaysian long tailed macaques are considered a nuisance as they frightened children, ransacked the kitchen for food, damaged fruit trees, all because of diminishing habitat resulting in loss of forest cover and a scarcity of food resulting in their coming out into urban areas. Moreover because of the availability of food in the urban areas and sometimes feeding by people they multiply leading to overpopulation. The Malaysian Wildlife Authority has resorted to culling, shooting and killing them to lessen their population and to stop them coming out into urban areas. Is shooting and culling the answer to the macaque problem? Can anyone with knowledge of macaques come out with alternative suggestions instead of culling? The macaques are not to be blamed for coming out of their homes to forage for food. Please email your answers as soon as possible. _______________ Get your mobile ringtones, operator logos and picture messages from MSN Mobile http://msn.smsfactory.no/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Both India and Hong Kong experiment with birth control/sterilisation programmes monkeys in urban areas (see write ups below). According to the Hong Kong officials the programme is quite successful. If you need more information I can forward further details. Lucia AnimalNepal.org Hong Kong determined to deal with monkey problem Wednesday, April 03, 2002 By Brian Walker, Reuters HONG KONG — There is too much monkey business in Hong Kong, and the government is determined to do something about it. Packs of wild monkeys are invading parks and neighborhoods in greater numbers, aggressively begging for food and sometimes snatching bags from frightened passersby. Occasionally, a brave one hitches a ride on a ferry across Hong Kong harbor to the busy central district. Concerned the animals may pose a growing health hazard and nuisance, the government has begun testing a unique method to control their numbers. It is implementing what's thought to be the world's first monkey birth control program. Many animal rights activists say they are in favor of the plan as a humane alternative to trapping and killing problem populations of Hong Kong's long-tailed and macaque monkeys. " We think that keeping a healthy population of monkeys in Hong Kong is very important, " said Wong Che-lok, who is guiding the program for Hong Kong's Agriculture Fishing and Conservation Department. " We hope that park visitors and monkeys can live together in harmony, and that's why we need to control the population growth of the macaques. " Wong said that monkey-catchers are trapping the animals in small numbers for now. They anesthetize them and inject an immunovaccine which sterilizes the males permanently and makes the females infertile for up to five years. Currently, several packs of the monkeys have been treated and released back into the wild under the pilot program. Wong says the government will begin a full-scale program if the initial results prove effective in controlling the population. GROWING OUT OF CONTROL Some estimates show the monkey population in Hong Kong growing as much as 10 percent a year, far faster than what is thought to be sustainable. There were 600 monkeys around the territory in 1992 when the first comprehensive survey was done. The population has doubled since then, and at the current growth rate, is expected to top 2,000 within the next five years. Wong says that would be too high for a healthy population in the limited areas available and something needs to be done immediately to halt the growth. Two types of monkeys are currently found in the territory: long-tailed and rhesus macaques. Neither is indigenous to Hong Kong, although rhesus monkeys are found naturally elsewhere in China. The rhesus monkeys are thought to have been introduced to their current Kowloon range just before World War I. They were released by engineers who believed the monkeys would help keep local reservoir water safe by eating plants ringing the shores that are toxic to humans but delicious to the monkeys. The long-tailed monkeys are far fewer in number and are believed to be descended from pets released by local residents in the 1950s. In recent years, the population has become a bit of a nuisance. The macaques are a frequent sight around Kowloon, where many people feed them in the parks. But the monkeys have come to rely on handouts and can become aggressive toward people not willing to feed them. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PLEASED The birth control program is thought to be the first of its kind in the world for a wild monkey population. " What the government in Hong Kong is doing with this treatment is actually very progressive and we support it fully, " said Chris Hanselman, executive director of Hong Kong's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Stephanie Boyles, a wildlife biologist for U.S.-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said in an e-mail response that she hoped that other communities with monkey problems, such as Puerto Rico, could learn from Hong Kong's experience. Officials also plan to change the monkey's behavior patterns. They are passing out pamphlets urging people not to feed the animals and are planting more food plants in the hills away from Hong Kong's urban sprawl to encourage the monkeys to learn to live on their own. 24 Oct 2003 Nuisance monkeys face sterilisation By Baldev Chauhan BBC correspondent in Simla Loitering in groups, pestering passers-by, stealing food - India's urban monkeys have become a menace to society. Simian delinquency is booming, fuelled by a steady rise in the monkey population. But in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, the humans have had enough - and, perhaps literally, the knives are out. Authorities in the region have decided it is high time the nuisance monkeys are sterilised. They have applied to the Environment and Forests Ministry in Delhi for permission to proceed with a sterilisation programme. A senior wildlife official told the BBC the state's female monkeys can rest easy - male monkeys will be the sole targets of the initiative. According to the official, tests have shown sterilisation is far more effective in male primates than it is in females. If given the go-ahead, each of the state's sterilised monkeys would have a micro-chip implanted in it, to make sure the same animal was not operated on twice. The wildlife official said the cost of sterilising each monkey would be about 1,750 rupees, or $35. That's money well spent, say residents in the hill resort of Simla, which has had serious monkey problems of its own. One of them told the BBC this was the time for decisive action, as the state's monkey population was on course to outnumber its humans. Exact figures for the number of monkeys in India are not available, but they are to be found almost everywhere in the country. The commonest breed is the Rhesus Macaque, a type of brown monkey that lives to the age of around 17. Though denied the protection afforded to the sacred cow, monkeys nonetheless have an easy life in India. Temples are often dedicated to them, in memory of the Hindu god, Hanuman, himself part-monkey. The presence of pilgrims and devotees at these temples provides the monkeys with a ready source of food - and to judge by their antics, entertainment. At 12:45 PM 12/12/2004 +0000, you wrote: >Dear Friends, > >Can anyone help me with answers regarding problem with long tailed macaques? > >The malaysian long tailed macaques are considered a nuisance as they >frightened children, ransacked the kitchen for food, damaged fruit trees, >all because of diminishing habitat resulting in loss of forest cover and a >scarcity of food resulting in their coming out into urban areas. > >Moreover because of the availability of food in the urban areas and >sometimes feeding by people they multiply leading to overpopulation. > >The Malaysian Wildlife Authority has resorted to culling, shooting and >killing them to lessen their population and to stop them coming out into >urban areas. > >Is shooting and culling the answer to the macaque problem? Can anyone with >knowledge of macaques come out with alternative suggestions instead of >culling? The macaques are not to be blamed for coming out of their homes to >forage for food. Please email your answers as soon as possible. > >_______________ >Get your mobile ringtones, operator logos and picture messages from MSN >Mobile http://msn.smsfactory.no/ > > > > > > > >For more information on Asian animal issues, please use the search feature >on the AAPN website: http://www.aapn.org/ or search the list archives at: >aapn >Please feel free to send any relevant news or comments to the list at >aapn > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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