Monkeys on the Edge

An examination of long-tailed macaque populations, looking at the issues of their sustainability and the contexts and consequences of macaques interacting with human societies.

A key resource for those working to understand macaque populations and their overlap with human societies, this book provides the first detailed look at research on this ubiquitous but underexplored species. It explores the contexts and consequences of human-macaque sympatry and discusses innovative programs to resolve human-macaque conflict in Asia.Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) have a wide geographical distribution and extensively overlap with human societies across southeast Asia, regularly utilizing the edges of secondary forest and inhabiting numerous anthropogenic environments, including temple grounds, cities and farmlands. Yet despite their apparent ubiquity across the region, there are striking gaps in our understanding of long-tailed macaque population ecology. This timely volume, a key resource for primatologists, anthropologists and conservationists, underlines the urgent need for comprehensive population studies on common macaques. Providing the first detailed look at research on this underexplored species, it unveils what is currently known about the population of M. fascicularis, explores the contexts and consequences of human-macaque sympatry and discusses the innovative programs being initiated to resolve human-macaque conflict across Asia. Spread throughout the book are boxed case studies that supplement the chapters and give a valuable insight into specific field studies on wild M. fascicularis populations.