Northern Pig-tailed Macaque: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Monkeys of Africa and Asia · day 7 of 7

Five facts

1. A ring of greyish fur frames its face like a crown. A red stripe slants up from the outer corner of each eye.
2. Its short, thin tail is held in many poses. The most common one is bent sharply backwards at a right angle.
3. A troop can hold more than a hundred and fifty monkeys. They break into small teams to feed, then regroup to travel together.
4. In a study in Thailand, food mattered most when choosing where to sleep. They often slept right beside their feeding trees, or in them.
5. It feeds on hundreds of kinds of fruit. When fruit runs short, it turns to mushrooms, ants, termites and even bread.

The quiz

1. Where is the red stripe on this macaque's face?

• Down the middle of its nose
• At the outer corner of each eye (correct)
• Around its mouth
• Across its forehead

A red stripe slants upward from the outer corner of each eye.

2. How does it most often hold its tail?

• Bent back at a right angle (correct)
• Curled into a tight spiral
• Wrapped around a branch
• Dragging along the ground

The most common tail pose points back at a right angle.

3. What does a big troop do when it is time to feed?

• It stays in one big crowd
• It sends one monkey to fetch food for all
• It takes turns, one monkey at a time
• It splits into smaller groups (correct)

They break into smaller groups to feed and rejoin to travel.

4. In the Thai study, what mattered most when the macaques chose where to sleep?

• Being near a river
• Being high on a cliff
• Being close to food (correct)
• Being far from other troops

Food nearby had the biggest influence; they often slept in or near feeding trees.

5. What does it do when fruit is hard to find?

• It sleeps until fruit returns
• It eats other foods like mushrooms and ants (correct)
• It travels to the coast to catch fish
• It stops eating for weeks

With little fruit around, it becomes more omnivorous, eating fungi, ants and termites.

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