Step1
Any visitor to Forest Zoo at Port Blair, Andaman gets automatically attracted to monkeys’ enclosure. Highly agile, playful and noisy primates keep the visitors spell bound. A bit dull during hot noon hours, about two dozen macaques display acrobatic feats and skill of combining physical activity with nursing the young baboons. With every ounce of body fortified with energy and vitality, they keep testing the strength of the chain link fencing and timber planks utilized for their enclosure.
Step2
Macaque is an interesting mammal, unique in its eating habits and social order. A dusky fawn coloured mokey, it superficially resembles bonnet monkey of S.India. It has typical hair tuft on the crown, growing backwards, somewhat like Rhesus Macaque, but has a longer tail. In India macaque species is found in Great Nicobar island, Little Nicobar and Katchal islands, while it also inhabits the forest of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. It is basically arboreal in nature and prefers tropical forests with tall trees. It generally feeds on wild banana, breadfruit, jamun and other fruits and berries. It also sometimes relishes crabs as delicacy. Being omnivores, it also devours some insects it can lay hands on. The macaque takes two main meals-breakfast and the dinner. It generally rests during noon, skipping its lunch. They prefer to live near rivers,sea beaches, mangroves and usually fish in creeks.
Macaques are highly social and operate in troops. While the troop’s strength varies with availability of food and foraging facility, the social groups having members of all ages and sex are usually 10-25 strong. Each troop, under the command of a dominant male moves about in its home range, of which it is very possessive. When two troops happen to forage in one forest block, time table of their daily movement is automatically so geared that the different troops do not meet, thus avoiding conflict and inter-troop fights. There are generally 2-3 females to every male macaque in the troop-single dominant male forms the troop’s center.
Step3
The breeding season and intensity of macaques varies with food supply status. Usually they have one breeding season a year, two seasons are also reported in areas with favourable conditions. The consort pair move, play about and forage together for a few days. Actual unison lasts just for a few minutes. Grooming each other is very common during romance period. Gestation period is about six month. Baby baboon with closed eyes and very less hair on the crown and the back. The eyes open nearly two hours after the birth. Mother macaques protects the baby from invaders like leopard, smaller cats, wild dogs, eagles, python, crocodiles, monitor lizards with great care and affection.
Macaques enjoy afternoon siesta and get catnap at intervals. Under Zoo conditions they are generally monogamous, but some cases of polygamy are also noticed. In Zoo they like cucumber, guava, banana, papaya, raw and semi boiled mutton and fish. They are clean eaters and devour all edible part of fish leaving behind entire skeleton and bone cage. They like boiled egg and pounce upon Maina, Bulbul or any other unwary birds who strays in their enclosure by accident or in search of food.
The primates get some sort of advance inkling of natural calamities like earthquake or severe cyclones and exhibit peculiar behavior. They would suddenly clam down and raise body hair and ears. They some times become restless just before and during earth quake or tremors.
The primates move about in troops of 10-30 and produce shrill calls. Seeing lone women or children, they make aggressive posture and sometimes even attack. In Nicobars, they eat pandanus fruits and relish papayas.
Very naughty as they are, they cause damage by ravaging the settler’s agro-horticultural produce. Great Nicobar Settlers, mostly ex-Army personnel, train domestic dogs to catch the macaque by neck when they attempt to raid their gardens. The macaques too, not to be outwitted by the dogs, pounce on the dogs as group. Some monkeys even slap the dogs, then jointly drag the poor dog on the tree and let it fall down like a stone. I have seen macaques diving in sea for a few minutes before surfacing again with fish, shell or other marine food.
Macaques particularly under zoo conditions become highly tuned to feeding timings. I recall, a male macaque, Shambu who does not tolerate delays in the food served to him. Shambu would get annoyed if his choice food is not served timely. He would simply throw off food it
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Comments
Madhu54 said
on 5/1/2008 Excellent
Madhu54 said
on 5/1/2008 Superb