Durian the Long-tailed Macaque Rescued

Last week some local people brought in a juvenile long-tailed macaque (macaca fascicularis). They had found him one month prior to bringing him into the WFFT Wildlife Rescue Centre after he had been attacked by a cat. Initially they thought keeping him as a pet was a good idea but soon changed their minds. They named him ‘Durian’, we estimate that he is around 12 months old. Luckily for Durian the people saw sense and handed him over to WFFT.

The long-tailed macaque is listed as Least Concern (LC) by the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species, in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, occurrence in a number of protected areas. Habitat loss and degradation due to human encroachment, pose the biggest threat to all macaque species. They are regularly persecuted as pests. Increasing competition between macaques and humans due the increase in need of land for agriculture and other human activities is the foremost reason that macaques are persecuted as pests. Hostile encounters with macaques are common in urban areas due to the active promotion of their presence for spiritual and entertainment purposes by provisioning food for the macaques. We (humans) both promote population growth through the provision of food and the protection habitat, and on the other hand we hinder it through the continued fragmentation of habitat, capture and exportation for research, and the pet-trade.

During 2017 we rescued numerous juvenile macaques so luckily for Durian after he has gone through a quarantine period he will be introduced to some new friends. He will eventually join one of our troops of macaques in a large open field. We will keep you posted in his progress.