Celebes Crested Macaque
Encyclopedia
The Celebes crested macaque (Macaca nigra), also known as the crested black macaque, Sulawesi crested macaque, or the black ape, is an Old World monkey
that lives in the northeast of the Indonesia
n island of Sulawesi
(Celebes) as well as on smaller neighboring islands.
species. Its life expectancy is estimated at approximately 20 years.
rain forest dweller. This macaque
is primarily terrestrial
, spending more than 60% of its day on the ground foraging for food and socializing, while sleeping and searching for food in the trees.
The Celebes crested macaque is frugivorous, with 70% of its diet consisting of fruit
s. It also consumes leaves
, bud
s, seed
s, fungus
, bird
s and bird eggs
, insect
s (such as caterpillar
s), and the occasional small lizard
or frog
.
groups before they look for a connection to an existing mixed group. Communication consists of various sounds and gestures; such as the presentation of the long eyeteeth while grimacing a clear threatening gesture.
The Celebes crested macaque is promiscuous, with both males and females mating multiple times with multiple partners. The receptivity of the females is clearly indicated by an extreme tumescence
(swelling) and redness of their buttocks
which, in contrast to the black skin color, is particularly remarkable. The gestation time is 174 days, and the birth of the usually single offspring happens in the spring when food is more plentiful. Young animals are nursed approximately one year and become fully mature in 3 to 4 years, females somewhat sooner than males.
. Clearing the rain forests further threatens its survival. Its situation on the small neighbouring islands of Sulawesi (such as Bacan) is somewhat better, since these have a low human population. The total population of the macaque on Sulawesi is estimated at 4,000-6,000, while a booming population of up to 100,000 monkeys is found on Bacan.
A recent series of survey trips to Sulawesi and the Minehasa forest area have been made in 2004-2009 by Vicki Melfi, who is EEP
studbook holder for these macaques, based at Paignton Zoo
/ the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust
. She has been monitoring population density which has declined from over 300 individuals per square kilometre in 1980 to 20 to 60 individuals today. A conservation programme Selamatkan Yaki - or "Save the Yaki" as this macaque is known in the local language - has been launched with local partners and other conservation groups from Thailand, Germany and the Wildlife Conservation Society
(based in USA). Both Newquay Zoo
and Paignton Zoo
are among a number of mostly European zoos which hold ex-situ breeding populations of this animal.
Since 2006, the Macaca Nigra Project studies the biology and promotes the conservation of this species. The project, a collaboration between the German Primate Center
and the Bogor Agricultural Institute, run by Antje Engelhardt, is located in the Tangkoko reserve
, home of the biggest crested macaque population remaining in the species' original distribution range.
Old World monkey
The Old World monkeys or Cercopithecidae are a group of primates, falling in the superfamily Cercopithecoidea in the clade Catarrhini. The Old World monkeys are native to Africa and Asia today, inhabiting a range of environments from tropical rain forest to savanna, shrubland and mountainous...
that lives in the northeast of the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n island of Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
(Celebes) as well as on smaller neighboring islands.
Description
Its skin and hairless face is, with the exception of some white hair in the shoulder range, entirely jet black. The long muzzle with high cheeks and the long hair tuft, or crest, at the top side of the head are remarkable. The tail is only approximately 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) of stub. With a total body length of 45 cm (18 in) to 60 cm (24 in) and a weight of 7 to 10 kg, it is one of the smaller macaqueMacaque
The macaques constitute a genus of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. - Description :Aside from humans , the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to Afghanistan and, in the case of the barbary macaque, to North Africa...
species. Its life expectancy is estimated at approximately 20 years.
Ecology
The Celebes crested macaque is a diurnalDiurnal animal
Diurnality is a plant or animal behavior characterized by activity during the day and sleeping at night.-In animals:Animals that are not diurnal might be nocturnal or crepuscular . Many animal species are diurnal, including many mammals, insects, reptiles and birds...
rain forest dweller. This macaque
Macaque
The macaques constitute a genus of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. - Description :Aside from humans , the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to Afghanistan and, in the case of the barbary macaque, to North Africa...
is primarily terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...
, spending more than 60% of its day on the ground foraging for food and socializing, while sleeping and searching for food in the trees.
The Celebes crested macaque is frugivorous, with 70% of its diet consisting of fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s. It also consumes leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
, bud
Bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots, or may have...
s, seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s, fungus
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
, bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and bird eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s (such as caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s), and the occasional small lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
or frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
.
Group behavior
It lives in groups of 5 to 25 animals. Smaller groups have only a single male, while larger groups have up to four males. The females, however, always outnumber the males by about 4:1. Since young males must leave their birth group upon maturity, they sometimes form bachelorBachelor
A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...
groups before they look for a connection to an existing mixed group. Communication consists of various sounds and gestures; such as the presentation of the long eyeteeth while grimacing a clear threatening gesture.
The Celebes crested macaque is promiscuous, with both males and females mating multiple times with multiple partners. The receptivity of the females is clearly indicated by an extreme tumescence
Tumescence
Tumescence is the quality or state of being tumescent or swollen. Tumescence usually refers to the normal engorgement with blood of the erectile tissues, marking sexual excitation and possible readiness for sexual activity...
(swelling) and redness of their buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
which, in contrast to the black skin color, is particularly remarkable. The gestation time is 174 days, and the birth of the usually single offspring happens in the spring when food is more plentiful. Young animals are nursed approximately one year and become fully mature in 3 to 4 years, females somewhat sooner than males.
Human interactions
Because it devastates crops and fields, the Celebes crested macaque is hunted as a pest. It is also hunted to provide bushmeatBushmeat
Bushmeat initially referred to the hunting of wild animals in West and Central Africa and is a calque from the French viande de brousse. Today the term is commonly used for meat of terrestrial wild animals, killed for subsistence or commercial purposes throughout the humid tropics of the Americas,...
. Clearing the rain forests further threatens its survival. Its situation on the small neighbouring islands of Sulawesi (such as Bacan) is somewhat better, since these have a low human population. The total population of the macaque on Sulawesi is estimated at 4,000-6,000, while a booming population of up to 100,000 monkeys is found on Bacan.
A recent series of survey trips to Sulawesi and the Minehasa forest area have been made in 2004-2009 by Vicki Melfi, who is EEP
European Endangered Species Programme
The European Endangered Species Programme or EEP is the most intensive type of population management for a species kept in European Association of Zoos and Aquaria zoos...
studbook holder for these macaques, based at Paignton Zoo
Paignton Zoo
Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, is a zoo in Paignton, Devon, England. The zoo is part of South West Environmental Parks Ltd which is owned by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust . It is a combined zoo and botanic garden that welcomes over half a million visitors a year. WWCT also runs Living...
/ the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust
Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust
Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust is a registered charity, set up to run Paignton Zoo after the death of its founder, Herbert Whitley, who established the zoo on his estate at Primley, Torquay in Devon in the 1920s....
. She has been monitoring population density which has declined from over 300 individuals per square kilometre in 1980 to 20 to 60 individuals today. A conservation programme Selamatkan Yaki - or "Save the Yaki" as this macaque is known in the local language - has been launched with local partners and other conservation groups from Thailand, Germany and the Wildlife Conservation Society
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society and currently manages some of wild places around the world, with over 500 field conservation projects in 60 countries, and 200 scientists on staff...
(based in USA). Both Newquay Zoo
Newquay Zoo
Newquay Zoo is a zoological garden located in Newquay, England. The zoo was opened in Cornwall on Whit Monday May 26, 1969 by the local council , it was privately owned by Mike Thomas and Roger Martin from 1993 until 2003...
and Paignton Zoo
Paignton Zoo
Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, is a zoo in Paignton, Devon, England. The zoo is part of South West Environmental Parks Ltd which is owned by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust . It is a combined zoo and botanic garden that welcomes over half a million visitors a year. WWCT also runs Living...
are among a number of mostly European zoos which hold ex-situ breeding populations of this animal.
Since 2006, the Macaca Nigra Project studies the biology and promotes the conservation of this species. The project, a collaboration between the German Primate Center
German Primate Center
The German Primate Centre is a non-profit independent research and service institute. It is a member of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and funded by the federal government and by the states of Germany...
and the Bogor Agricultural Institute, run by Antje Engelhardt, is located in the Tangkoko reserve
Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve
Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve also known as Tangkoko-Batuangus Dua Saudara is a nature reserve in the northern part of Sulawesi island of Indonesia. The reserve covers an area of 8,700 hectares.-Flora and fauna:...
, home of the biggest crested macaque population remaining in the species' original distribution range.