Qualitative Assessment of Macaque Tourist Sites in Padangtegal, Bali, Indonesia, and the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, Gibraltar

Abstract

Human tourists share space with, touch, feed, and otherwise interact with Macaca at multiple locations. Across Asia and stretching to Gibraltar and Northern Africa, macaques form a substantial tourist attraction as their ranges become increasingly coincident with human use zones. Residing in or as tourist attractions, macaques frequently generate economic benefits to local humans and compete with them for habitat and specific resources. In addition, health conflicts may emerge from increased overlap and interactions between humans and macaques. There is only a handful of studies on the impact, structure, context, and cultural ecology of macaque tourist sites. We provide a general overview of 2 macaque tourist sites, one in Padangtegal, Bali, Indonesia and one in Gibraltar. Qualitative assessment reveals variability in behavioral, ecological, economic, and politically relevant facets of macaque tourism. Specifically, differences in aggression during interactions, potential health dangers, economic factors, and local human perceptions between Padangtegal and Gibraltar suggest that qualitative assessments can assist in our construction of broader models and conceptualizations of the interaction context.

Tourist Behavior and Decibel Levels Correlate with Threat Frequency in Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Mt. Huangshan, China

“…At VWM, park staff practices of encouraging tourists to hand-feed monkeys and allowing tourists to pose for pictures with monkeys on the platform have not been seen since 2005, but it is still the case that tourists often arrive with food and the apparent intent of feeding monkeys, and tourists disregard the staff's admonitions against doing so. Signs were posted throughout VWM stating that monkeys should not be fed, but as was true at the sites studied by Fuentes et al (2007), we found that tourists ignored signage.…”

“…However, without continued careful management of tourist-monkey interactions, VWM could become more similar to Mt. Emei or other sites where higher rates of monkey-human aggression have been reported (Zhao and Deng 1992;Fuentes and Gamerl, 2005;Zhao 2005;Sabbatini et al 2006;Fuentes et al 2007). It is also possible that tourism poses a stressor to VWM monkeys, thereby undermining the conservation and research goals established for the site (Berman and Li 2002).…”

“…This contact can be stressful and detrimental, particularly when there is a potential for interspecies aggression and disease transmission. Left unmanaged, nature-based tourism can prove harmful to the very area that is being sought out for its natural beauty, unique Perhaps in part because of their adaptability and inquisitive, bold natures, species in the genus Macaca are sometimes the focus of "macaque tourism" (Fuentes et al 2007(Fuentes et al , p.1144 in Asian countries, within the natural range of the genus. In China, there are two locations where tourists can see Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana): Mt.…”

Komodo Dragon Predation on Crab-Eating Macaques at the Rinca Island’s Visitor Centre, Indonesia

“…Our observations showed that the macaques were relatively well adapted to the presence of visitors, more so than other prey species in the valley. The macaques successfully occupy disturbed habitats including tourism areas [Eudey, 2008;Peterson and Riley, 2013] and can cope with the tourists' presence and activities [Biquand and Gautier, 1994;Fuentes et al, 2007]. The macaques' ability to persist in tourist-dominated areas sympatrically with Komodo dragons [Fuentes et al, 2007] increases their predation risk due to their relative abundance compared to other prey species (i.e., water buffalo and feral pigs), which actively avoid tourist-occupied areas.…”

Negative effects of tourism in a Brazilian Atlantic forest National Park

“…Relationship between tourism and wildlife could be parasitic, coexistent or symbiotic (Jacobson & Lopez 1994). Even for the same species, tourism could represent a commensal relationship, or a wide source of disturbances, as the case of macaque in Asia (Fuentes et al 2007). An apparent benefit in population abundance possibly hide other severe disturbances, such as changes in diet, social and foraging patterns, not assessed in this study.…”