Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina)

 

Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family:    Cercopithecidae
Size:    Height: 1.5 to 2.2 feet (46 to 68 cm)
Weight: 10 to 35 pounds (4.5 to 15.8 kg)
Diet: Mainly fruit, but also leaves, sprouts, roots and insects 
Distribution: Asia
Young:  1 every other year
Animal Predators:  Unknown
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Terms: Group: Troop
Lifespan: Up to 26 years

 

Facts/Trivia:

·       The lion-tailed macaque is the most endangered macaque.

·       The only macaque living naturally outside Asia is the Barbary ape of northern Africa.

·       Researchers have found that pig-tailed macaques are highly intelligent and mischievous.  

 

Description

Pig-tailed macaques are named for the short tail that curls over their back. They walk on all four feet. Their fur is a soft brown, with a white ruff around their face and hairless toes, fingers, ears and face.

 

Habitat

Pig-tailed macaques are found in southeastern Asia, in forested areas of countries such as Myanmar (Burman), Borneo, Sumatra, Indonesia, Laos, Malay Peninsula, China, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

 

Feeding Habits

They spend their days on the forest floor, but climb trees to obtain fruit. Leaves, sprouts, roots and insects make up the rest of their diet. 

 

Reproduction

Females becomes sexually mature at age four, and they are then approached by males in the troop, but the choice of a mate is up to each female. Pregnancy lasts six months. Young macaques nurse for up to one year.

 

Behaviour

Pig-tailed macaques live in troops of five to 47 individuals of both males and females. Macaques scurry up trees rapidly to escape predators and they also sleep in trees at night. Within the troops, there is a social structure and the highest ranked members eat first. Pig-tailed macaques tend to be quieter than other species of macaques—it is believed that this is a technique they have developed to avoid predators while on the ground.

 

Conservation

There are approximately 900,000 pig-tailed macaques left in the wild. Their decline is due to several reasons including heavy logging of the forests in which they live, they are hunted for meat and they are captured for use in the pet trade as well as for use in medical and cosmetic laboratory experiments.

 

Sources

http://members.tripod.com/uakari/macaca_nemestrina.html

http://www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/factsheets/macaca_nemestrina.html

http://www.primatefreedom.com/

http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/5053/Asia/Pig-Tailed%20Macaque.html

http://www.szgdocent.org/pp/p-mcpig.htm

http://www.kepu.com.cn/english/animal/class/cls104.html

http://sql.monkeyworld.org.uk/v2/topic.phtml?TopicID=81&Template=standard

http://www.ippl.org/ptns.html

http://monkyemaddness.com/speciesspecific/macaque.html

Pig-tailed Macaque Wildlife Fact File, IM Pub, US