The Philippine long-tailed macaque. The only monkey in the archipelago

There are three species of primates in the Philippines. Primates… so to remind ourselves (aside from us – humans), these are monkeys, lemurs, galagos, lorises, and, of course, our favorite tarsiers. Besides the Philippine tarsier, one can see the only monkey in the archipelago – the Philippine long-tailed macaque. Its local name is “unggoy”, “amo” and sometimes even called  “matsing”. These monkeys are found all over the Philippines. Let’s see what they are and what makes them special.

Meet the Philippine Long-Tailed Macaque

The long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) is a very diverse monkey species. It belongs to the Cercopithecidae family, otherwise called “Old World Monkeys”. It is widely found across South-East Asia, from Myanmar to the Philippines. And guess what? It is that diverse that comprises 9 subspecies! The Philippine long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis fascicularis) is one of these subspecies. These macaques are widely distributed across the Philippines, including islands like Bohol, Leyte, Negros, Palawan, and Samar. They are very flexible and inhabit forested areas, mangroves, and agricultural areas. It is not only flexible with habitats it occupies, but also elevation – one can spot them up to 1800 m a.s.l!

This species usually has a colour of fur ranging from grayish-brown to dark brown. Usually, males have slightly darker coats than the females. Not only a colour might differ between sexes, but also their size. Males are larger than females, and weigh between 4 – 8 kg and measure between 41 – 64 cm. Females, on the other hand, weigh between 2 – 5 kg and measure 38 – 50 cm. The Philippine macaques are known for an expressive face and a long, downward-curved tail. The latter can be longer than the length of a body and a head combined! That tail helps macaques balance when they climb, travel or chase each other in the trees.

Monkey business – social communicative species

The Philippine long-tailed macaque, as most monkeys, is a social species. What does it mean? First, they live in groups, which can be more than 20 individuals – females, offspring and a few males. Secondly, their mating system can be diverse – from what we scientifically call “polygynous” (one male mates with several females) to “polygynandrous” (multiple females mate with multiple males). Basically, they travel, forage and roost together. And when they roost, they can share the same sleeping tree. 

These monkeys are also very good communicators. They stay connected through vocalizations, facial expressions and also by grooming each other. The offspring are dependent on their mothers (which do most of the care) for a long period of time – even up to 420 days! When a male offspring reaches puberty, usually leaves the group. There are very intricate relationships within a group of macaques. There are a lot of conflicts (the bigger the group, the lower resources) and… grooming frequency between particular individuals counts a lot! The females are more likely to engage in a sexual activity with the males that groomed her before than with those that didn’t.

Food… every kind under the sun!

Philippine macaques are early birds. There have been reports of them foraging and feeding even before sunrise! This was also said to us by local people in Katipunan, where we did our research. Locals usually see them before 5 AM :O When it comes to their diet… it’s every kind under the sun! You name it: fruits, crabs, flowers, leaves, fungi, grasses, as well as various insects (including honeybees) and even birds! Whereas in mangroves they can eat even more – shrimps, fish or even frogs and bivalve mollusks. There is a word for these kinds of species that eat basically everything. We call them omnivorous. 

But since they eat almost everything, they also like coconuts and other crops. And here we begin to see some problems. Can you, actually, recall a farmer who likes losing their livelihood to wildlife? Of course, the answer is negative. The same happens here. The Philippine macaques are treated as pests and disliked in many areas of the Philippines. And this exact Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) we will study in Kahibalo Foundation. What actually triggers macaques crop-raiding in Anda? Well, we hope to tell you in detail due time.

It’s a Jungle Out There – The Challenges Philippine macaques Face

These monkeys face a number of threats in the wild. Similarly to other animal species, most of these are caused by us humans. Some of the threats concern the macaques’ environment – urbanization and deforestation. The deforested areas make it harder for these monkeys to find food and mates. That’s why they come closer and closer to our human population, to search for food. 

Unfortunately, it might result in aggressive encounters with humans as both macaques and humans want to protect their food. Aside from potential bites we lose our food or income. And this is a typical example of human-wildlife conflict which we mentioned before. This leads to farmers thinking of macaques as pests, resorting to violence and illegal hunting. And the vicious circle does not stop. There are also some cases, wherein humans capture macaques to make them pets. During our research we saw a lot of macaques kept in captivity in Anda. 

The Philippine long-tailed macaque – endangered species

These all threats together cause the population to decline. There is no, however, any recent evaluation of the conservation status of the Philippine long-tailed macaque. What is assessed though, is the status of the whole species: long-tailed macaque. And what’s the conclusion? It’s rather grim. Last assessments point to the “Endangered” status, based on the suspected decline of at least 40% of their population over approximately 40 years and will continue to do so. So what does the Kahibalo Foundation aim to do? We would like to investigate the drivers behind and the scale of keeping the Philippine macaques as pets. What is already ongoing is the evaluation of what are the drivers of crop-raiding. Finally, we hope to survey their population. Will you help us?

Author: Anne Mhariel Braga (USC Student)