The Sri Lankan government’s plan to send 100,000 toque macaques to China has been frowned upon by animal rights groups, conservationists and the nature-loving fraternity. While the government states that this plan is a remedy to minimize crop damage, conservationists believe that funds and resources that will be utilized to capture and transport the animals to China could be allocated for better purposes such as looking at alternative means of controlling populations of pest animals such as toque macaques, peacocks, wild boar and so on. 

Toque Macaques and their role in Nature 

To better understand the role of toque macaques in maintaining the ecological balance, the Daily Mirror Life spoke to Dr Wolfgang Dittus, a primatologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute who has been studying the ecology and behaviour of wild monkeys in the dry forests of Polonnaruwa since 1968. “Monkeys spend 20% of their activity each day eating insects that damage forest trees and shrubs.  That's the removal of about 3000- 3600 pest insects on plants per monkey group per day in a small area of 10 hectares. By competing with langurs (grey and purple-faced) for natural food items they keep these populations in check, ie.,  reduce other monkey numbers that potentially feed on human crops..  They also eat rat pups,” he said.

Responding to a query on alternative approaches to control the toque macaque population, Dr Dittus said that there needs to be an uphill re-education of a culture used to their ways of dealing with animals.  “Historically speaking, in heavily populated areas of Sri Lanka people have eliminated macaques in large areas of the lowland wet zone rainforests that were converted by agricultural expansion to a point where the macaque subspecies there is on the international IUCN endangered subspecies list.  In the highlands, agricultural expansion, housing developments, and dairy farms have encroached on natural ecosystems risking the extinction of the Critically Endangered highland loris as well as the subspecies of toque macaque in these areas.  The dry zone with less intensive agriculture has been spared some of this but the pace towards competition with animals is increasing, especially in the north where langur removals have been undertaken under pressure from agricultural lobbies.”

Varied solutions 

“The Buddha reminds us that to solve a problem you must understand its cause and then address the cause,” he added.  “First and foremost we must remember that monkeys come to human habitation only in search of food or water.  To find a solution requires a change of mindset; it is not how best to repel inquisitive monkeys, but what we humans need to do in order to not attract monkeys to our premises in the first place.  Think rationally as a start.  The solution varies depending on the property that we want to safeguard.”

Don’t feed monkeys
One of the solutions suggested by Dr Dittus is to stop feeding monkeys. “At the level of the household stop attracting monkeys by throwing unwanted food (vegetable and table scraps, food for domestic pets) into the garden where monkeys have easy access,” Dr Dittus explained.  “Monkeys very quickly learn to visit such houses on a regular basis and if there is a vegetable garden it is not spared.  Don't feed monkeys anywhere at any time, including at religious sites where monkeys learn to depend on easily acquired human-sourced food: humans teach monkeys to become dependent on human food and create pest monkeys! There is sufficient food in the forest for monkeys. Monkeys are naturally lean as arboreal acrobats, skinny monkeys are not unhealthy and don't need human food if they are not as fat as some of us humans.  Don't throw food waste on the roadsides when travelling.”

Speaking further, Dr Dittus said that the human-monkey conflict has been created by human ignorance and misbehaviour. “Monkey populations have not increased everywhere on the island.  “The national parks and protected areas have small populations because monkey groups cannot grow to feed on only natural foods.  But, where monkeys have learned to access human foods their populations have expanded locally, as evident around towns with lots of garbage in the open.  

With the expansion of tourist sites and thousands of guest houses in the last 30 years with daily garbage (monkey food), monkeys have flourished, for example in the towns of Kandy and Dambulla where monkeys are fed constantly by humans.  The public needs to be educated to not feed monkeys.  Singapore and other developed areas have succeeded because citizens have been taught in school and in public programs not to feed monkeys. Offenders are fined heavily if they are caught doing so.  The fine is to discourage people from creating pest monkeys that are troublesome to other people - like traffic laws.  Monkeys don't "steal"; rather they help themselves to what people have taught them is theirs to feed on.”

Barren lands keep monkeys away

Another barrier that keeps monkeys away is barren lands. “Larger agricultural plots such as coconut estates can be easily protected against visiting monkeys.  A perimeter of 50 to 100 meters of barren land surrounding an estate plot acts as a barrier because monkeys don't like to cross open ground for the natural fear of predation.  The monkeys'  fear can be reinforced by human guardians to chase monkeys whenever they come near: it's a dawn-to-dusk job for 2-3 guardians depending on the size of the estate.  Monkeys learn to avoid, they are not stupid!  

For the estate holder, it is a matter of balancing cost and benefit.  The estate may lose a few trees to create a barrier and may need to pay 2-3 guardians daily to prevent monkeys from coming. That is the cost of doing business in a country where its inhabitants have the privilege (taken for granted) of having inherited a diversity of wildlife.  The benefit to a coconut estate manager is that more coconuts are available to cover the cost of protection.  The benefit far outweighs the cost.  But it needs to be implemented, not merely discussed, complained about, and not decided or acted upon!  The challenge is for coconut growers to assume a different responsibility for their properties,” Dr Dittus explained while adding that smaller landholders can protect their vegetable gardens with approaches such as netting as is done regularly in some upcountry estates.

Dr Dittus is planning to collaborate with agriculturalists to produce a video program showing how people can protect their properties from visiting monkeys.    

Perpetuating fallacies 

Issuing a statement, the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) said that there are several claims being made by the government.  “One is that the populations of toque macaques, elephants and other species have increased without any comprehensive island-wide consensus being carried out to justify this claim. Whatever Sri Lanka does, some species of Macaques are on the IUCN’s critically endangered list. As per globally accepted criteria for the definition of Zoos, in China, there are just 18 that fit the bill. This averages out at 5,000 macaques per Zoo. This is not credible. Capturing 100,000 macaques will take considerable effort and financial resources. Why have such funds been unavailable for research into the causes and the formulation of preventive measures to deal with human-monkey conflicts, and for the payment of compensation for those who do suffer losses?” the statement read.

An attempt to earn blood money?

The WNPS further questioned whether the toque macaques are destined to live a life of torture and brutality in the guise of being sent to zoos in China. “The Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on China’s trade in wild species for medical tests, for products destined for human use; particularly drugs and cosmetics. Macaques, with their human-like qualities, have been particularly popular, especially with medical testing facilities in the USA and Europe. The potential income from such a trade would be far greater than that from the sale of this species to Zoos. Is this where these macaques are headed?”

Look to science and research 

A further question was raised as to whether it would not be better to use the resources available to instigate a thorough study of the problem, by qualified researchers and scientists, to find solutions through the understanding of macaque behaviour and habitat rather than looking to earn ‘blood money. Sri Lanka has some of the finest in this field, such as Dr Wolfgang Dittus, who has devoted much of his life to the study of these fascinating animals and is renowned the world over for his expertise.  The Agricultural extension units in our rural areas would be best suited for such studies.  Financial resources are saved by the implementation of effective ways to safeguard crops.  If an immediate remedy is needed, and as referred to earlier, would it not be better to set up mechanisms for the payment of fair compensation for those who lose their crops to macaques? After all, resources are available to capture 100,000 of them!”

No final decision yet : Minister 

However, when contacted Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that this is only a proposal that was presented to the Cabinet. “The request came from the Chinese government where they want to accommodate toque macaques in around 1000 zoological gardens for display. This request was presented to the cabinet. But prior to taking any decision a special sub-committee will be appointed to discuss on this matter further. We will be consulting all stakeholders including animal rights groups prior to arriving at any final decision,” the minister affirmed.