Hunting threatens N. Sulawesi's macaques

Hunting threatens N. Sulawesi's macaques

By Fachruddin Mangunjaya

JAKARTA (JP): Hunting is having a devastating effect upon the
wild population of the crested black macaque (Macaca nigra)
outside of the Tangkoko Nature Reserve in North Sulawesi.

"This monkey, which is endemic to Sulawesi, is being hunted
primarily for food, as well as for pets," Robert Lee, a student
of anthropology of the University of Oregon, who conducted a
survey in the Manembonembo Nature Reserve, said.

His survey, which was presented at the XVth International
Congress of Primatology in Kuta, Bali, in July indicated that
this species is threatened not only by hunting and live trapping,
but also by habitat disturbances.

The Manembonembo Nature Reserve (6,500 hectares) constitutes
one of the largest areas the Macaca nigra occupies outside the
contiguous reserves of Tangkoko-Duasaudara-Batuangus in North
Sulawesi.

A population survey conducted by Sugarjito in 1988 showed
there were 2,502 of the macaques in Manembonembo. Lee's surveys
in 1993 and 1994 concluded only 1,486 remain.

"This shows an overall decrease by 59 percent in six years,"
Lee says.

"If the PHPA forest concessionaire does not patrol this area,
the population will be extinct very soon," he adds.

Lee found that on average one household around the
Manembonembo area eats approximately six monkeys per year. Up to
72 percent of the respondents who live in the villages
surrounding Manembonembo said they consumed monkeys. That means
the villages around Manembonembo consume 1,240 Macaca nigra per
year, he said.

However, Lee stated that this is only a preliminary study.

The Indonesian government has declared the Macaca nigra a
protected species, so why are the crested black macaques hunted
at such a high rate?

Lee has given three reasons. First, the current law
enforcement by the PHPA concessionaire is not sufficient. Whereas
patrolling needs to take place on a systematic basis, there is
the problem of shortage of personnel, improper training and lack
of incentives.

Second, it is not surprising that the local people eat the
monkey given their economic circumstances. Unless there is a
program to provide cheap courses of meat, hunting will continue.

Third, protein requirement is not all that is involved.

"They eat monkey because they do not realize the consequences
of their behavior and people do not know that various animals are
protected," Lee said.

F. Mangunjaya is managing editor of Conservation Indonesia
Journal, WWF Indonesia Program, Jakarta.