TIBETAN MACAQUE

Macaca thibetana

Physical Description

The Tibetan Macaque, also known as Pere David’s Macaque or the Short-tailed or Stump-tailed Tibetan Macaque, is the largest species of macaque in the world. The Tibetan Macaque has long, thick fur that is especially dense around the Macaque’s ears and on the top of its head.

This warm coat provides protection against Tibet’s cold winters. Most Tibetan macaques are greyish brown, but a few are black. The fur of young macaques tends to be darker than that of the adults, with a silver or whitish tinge. The Tibetan Macaque’s whiskers and beard are lightcoloured.

The Macaque’s eyelids generally are also light-coloured, accentuating the Macaque’s facial expressions. The Tibetan Macaque has large cheek pouches and a hairless muzzle. Many female Tibetan macaques have red skin around their eyes.

The Tibetan Macaque has a stocky build, with agile, robust limbs. Male Tibetan macaques have a body length of 61.3 to 71 centimetres (24 to 28 inches) and weigh 14.2 to 17.5 kilograms (31.3 to 38.6 pounds). Female Tibetan macaques are smaller than the males. Females have a body length of 50.7 to 63 centimetres (20 to 24.8 inches) and weigh an average of 13 kilograms (29 pounds). The Tibetan Macaque’s tail length ranges from five to 7.5 centimeters (2 to 3 inches).

 

Habitat

The Tibetan Macaque inhabits subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests and mixed deciduous temperate forests at 800 to 2,000 metres (2,600 to 6,600 feet) in elevation. The Macaque may also occur in rocky terrain at higher altitudes. The Tibetan Macaque is found in Tibet and China, its population concentrated in Eastern Tibet and China’s Sichuan province.

Mountains popular with tourists in China where the Macaque can be found include Emei Shan, in Sichuan Province, and Jiuhua Shan and Huang (“Yellow”) Shan, in Anhui Province. The Tibetan Macaque’s habitat range overlaps with that of the Rhesus Macaque in some areas, but the Tibetan Macaque is generally found at higher altitudes than the Rhesus Macaque. Many Tibetan macaques now live in close association with humans.

 

Eating Habits

The Tibetan Macaque is omnivorous. The bulk of the Macaque’s diet consists of fruit, leaves, and grass. The Tibetan Macaque also eats flowers, roots, mushrooms, insects, eggs, birds, snakes, and, when available, bamboo shoots and leaves. The Macaque will eat food provided by humans, but, unlike the Rhesus Macaque, the Tibetan Macaque does not raid crop fields. The Tibetan Macaque stores extra food in its cheek pouches.

 

Behavior and Reproduction

The Tibetan Macaque is active during the day, or diurnal. The Macaque spends most of its time on the ground, despite its agility in the trees.

Tibetan Macaque lives in multi-male, multi-female groups that vary in size from 10 to 100 individuals. Groups are hierarchical. Higher-ranked macaques receive more access to the available resources. Females tend to remain in the groups into which they were born for their entire lives.

Males, on the other hand, often switch groups once or more after they reach adulthood, at around eight years of age. Males are responsible for leading the groups, maintaining discipline, and protecting the females and young. The highest-ranked males tend to be around seven to nine years of age; rank decreases with age thereafter. Males do not begin competing for the highest positions in a group until they temporarily leave their mother’s group, for a period ranging from about a week to a month, and return. The lowest-ranked males in a large (40+) group of macaques sometimes split away from the original group, forming a new group in a different area.

Tibetan Macaques communicate with each other using a wide range of vocalizations, as well as gestures and facial expressions, all of which seem to carry specific meanings. Though the Tibetan Macaque is considered highly intelligent, once the Macaque reaches maturity, it can be quite bad-tempered and aggressive, both towards members of its own species and those of others. The fights that often break out among male macaques may result in serious injuries or even death. The Tibetan Macaque tends to be the dominant species whenever it is found in association with other monkeys.

Female Tibetan Macaques begin mating at around five years of age. Mating occurs year-round, but there tends to be a peak season, which may correlate to food-availability. The highest-ranked males have the highest chance of securing partners to mate with, and, thus, the most offspring.

The highest-ranked females mate the most often and give birth earliest in the season. The Tibetan Macaque has a gestation period of 165 days.

Each macaque mother gives birth to a single offspring. Most births occur in January and February. Newborn macaques typically weigh about 400 grams (14 ounces).

Tibetan macaques are highly dependent on their mothers for the first four years of their lives. Macaques that survive past their first four years tend to live to an age between 25 and 30 years. The Tibetan Macaque has few natural predators. When potential danger is spotted, the Tibetan Macaque has been observed to alert the other members of its group with an alarm call and to flee into the trees. Male macaques are very strong and will fight to defend themselves, their relatives, and their friends when necessary.

 

Present Status

The Tibetan Macaque is categorized as Lower Risk: Conservation Dependent in the 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is listed under Appendix II of CITES. The Tibetan Macaque is under second class protection in China.

 

Threats to Survival

The main threat to the Tibetan Macaque is believed to be the loss and degradation of its habitat. Other threats include exposure to human diseases, herbicide and pesticide poisoning, and poaching.

 

References

Eudey, A. & Members of the Primate Specialist Group, 2000: Macaca thibetana, In: IUCN, 2003: 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened

Species, http://www.redlist.org, Aug 2004.

Georgia State University Viral Immunology Center, Photos of Macaque Monkeys/ tibetan1.jpg, http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwvir/VirusInfo/

pages/tibetan1_jpg.htm, Aug 2004.

Huangshan Monkey Management Center, Basic Information about Tibetan Macaques, http://wings.buffalo.edu/anthropology/Faculty/

berman/BasicE.htm, Aug 2004.

By: Environment and Development Desk, DIIR, CTA.