NJMM SURVEY
Overview of My Research Hobby
I am an amateur primatologist living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Watching monkeys is a hobby for me.
The North Jakarta Mangrove Monkey (NJMM) Survey is an informal study of long-tailed macaques living in close proximity to urban development. The aim of the study is to better understand Human vs small primate conflicts, and identify possible resolutions.
As a hobby, this is NOT a monetized study affiliated with any organization.
BIO
My Story
The beauty of life is that we all play a role in an amazing and continuing cycle. From my youngest days I can recall a fascination with animal species, large and small. I very much wanted to better understand my place in the world.
Years later, I studied anthropology in university and became interested in primate studies.
My formal education includes Austin Community College, Indian River State College, and most recently certification from Kyoto University online.
Additionally, I've worked in animal rescue and have volunteered with animal rescue, rehabilitation and conservation of endangered species in the United States, Tanzania, China, Costa Rica and Canada, for a total of more than 15 years.
I live now in Jakarta, Indonesia with my wife and family. Our home, which is in a densely populated urban area, is less than 15 miles away from troops of wild monkeys. My curiosity now is to discover how well small primates and Humans coexist in this area.
MY RESEARCH MONKEY WATCHING HOBBY
Citizen Science to Help Monkeys and Humans Coexist
NORTH JAKARTA MANGROVE MONKEY SURVEY
Can there be harmony between two vastly different species of primates, living in close proximity?
My informal study (not affiliated with any organization, nor funded in any way) aims to observe and record data about one small troop of wild long-tailed macaques who inhabit an urban park in Jakarta. The survey seeks to answer three questions:
Do conflicts happen between people and monkeys in the park?
What identifiable factors lead to potential conflicts?
Can possible mitigation ideas be gleaned from observational data?
PROVISIONING AND HABITUATION
Provisioning
The troop of long-tailed macaques (macaca fascicularis) live primarily in a narrow strip of protected mangrove forest in North Jakarta. The mangrove park is open to the public and sees hundreds of visitors each day.
Although it is technically forbidden, feeding the monkeys human foods is a common practice. Park rules and signage warn people not to feed or harass the macaques, but the feedings happen daily. In this sense, the troop is provisioned by the visitor's actions. Therefor, the macaques rely on handouts for a certain percentage of their diet. Part of my study will be to gauge how high that percentage is and how it affects the relationship between humans and monkeys (also, between troop members). The potential for provisioning to lead to aggression in the troop members is likely.*
Habituation
Living in close proximity to people means the macaques are used to seeing, hearing, interacting, being stared at by and even followed by people.
The fact that the monkeys are used to having people around creates both unique benefits and challenges to observational study.
Watching the troop around people is fairly straight forward. It'll be a challenge to observe their more natural behaviors when not near humans.
*This is an assumption, and may prove to be inaccurate.
HEARTS AND MINDS
The illegal wildlife trade is still a major issue, even in a mega city like Jakarta. With a population of more than 10 million people, Jakarta attracts animal sellers from all over Indonesia. Every weekend, pop-up street markets are likely to include folks selling small primates. The practice is outlawed, but enforcement is difficult.
Through my contact with people I hope to have discussions about wild monkeys and the extreme difficulty of caring for them as captive pets.
The only way to stop the sales of monkeys will be to stop the demand for small primates as a product.
NORTH JAKARTA MANGROVE MONKEYS CLUB
NJMM Club will be an informal group of friends, who enjoy respectfully watching wildlife in the Jakarta area.
