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A typical day for the macaque troop

When the troop moves throughout the park, they typically follow a sort of routine. The long-tailed macaques' nest in the tree canopy near the rear of the park. They will normally settle in after sunset, sleep through the night, and awaken at daybreak, or soon after. Like some people, the monkeys can sometimes be slow and languid right after waking up. Still, adult members will descend to the forest floor and other troop members eventually follow.

Their morning routine is to source breakfast. They forage from trees, bushes, other plants, and will opportunistically eat invertebrates or insects. As they move through the park, they rummage through garbage cans and examine discarded litter for anything edible.

If the macaques are unimpeded by human activities (park visitors, horticultural staff working, or fishermen on motorbikes) they will slowly make their way towards the park entrance area.

Parked motorcycles and filled trashcans are rifled through. They continue to eat and forage throughout the day.


The movement of the troop is typically unhurried. Troop leader Mal takes a vanguard position, and the rest of the troop follows where he goes.

Foraging and scavenging account for 25 - 30 percent of the troop's waking hours. The long-tailed macaques also spend about 30 percent of their time in movement throughout the park. The monkeys rest, socialize, play or copulate for the remainder of their waking day.

Interactions between human beings and macaques happen daily. On average, the monkeys interact with people five to 10 times on a weekday, and more than 20 times on weekends or holidays, when the park sees a higher volume of visitors.

Of those human/monkey interactions, roughly 15 percent involve aggressive behavior by the macaques.

Most interactions are benign, and involve elements of curiosity, begging for food, play or indifference.


As the day progresses, the troop makes a circuit, traveling the length of the park and the flanks – from estuary shoreline to mangrove seedling forest – more than a few times. Near sunset time the monkeys return to the area of their lair. Troop Bravo nests in the same tree canopy nightly.

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