Macaca Nigra

Macaca nigra

Macaca nigra in the local language called Yaki or Sulawesi black monkey is an endemic species of Indonesia found on the northern island of Sulawesi and several islands around it. Yaki live in primary and secondary forests, coastal areas and in highlands up to 2000 meters above sea level (asl). From some of its habitat, yaki prefer to live in primary forest, because it is suitable for beds and foraging.

Macaca nigra is classified into the phylum chordata, the class of mammals, order of primates, family of cercophithecidae and belongs to the genus Macaca.

Anatomically, besides having black hair, it also has a unique characteristic with a crest on its head. Yaki only has a 20 centimeter long tail, besides that, the most striking feature is the swelling of the buttocks and reddish color at the time of estrus. The female and young Yaki’s body color is paler compared to adult male Yaki.

Social behavior from Yaki where each group is dominated by female Yaki. In his group, Yaki imposed a matrilineal system or a permanent member of the group was female Yaki, while male Yaki often moved around in groups.

The types of food eaten by yaki do not differ much like those of other monkeys living in the forest, such as eating various parts of plants, such as leaves, shoots of leaves, seeds, flowers, tubers, and fruit and eating several insects, mollusks etc.

Editor : Lis Rosmanah
Photo : Entang Iskandar