Macaca Tonkeana

Macaca Tonkeana

Tonkean black monkey or tonkean monkey (Macaca tonkeana) is a primate species in the Cercopithecidae family. These primate animals are endemic from Central Sulawesi and the closest Togian Islands in Indonesia (Groves 2005).

Taxonomy
According to Fooden (1969) Tonkeana Macaca are classified as follows:

Kingdom: Animalia
Division: Chordata
Class: Mammals
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Macaca
Type: Macaca tonkeana (Mayer 1899)

Morphology
This animal has strong limbs, a fairly long snout and a nondescript short tail. The base of the face is dominated by black, with a light brown area on the cheeks and buttocks. Body length 42-68 cm, tail length 3-6 cm. The male weight is around 14.9 kg and the female weight is around 9 kg. Many of these animals spend most of their time moving around in the tree canopy, but also move on the ground (terrestrial) (Supriatna and Wahyono 2000).

Population
The density of the Macaca tongkeana population ranges from 3-5 individuals / km2. With a range of roaming areas ranging from 25-40 ha and daily roaming reaches 1,100 m (Supriatna and Wahyono 2000).

Threat
This species is often poisoned and trapped as an agricultural pest. Other threats include food hunting, collections for pets and habitat conversion, mainly due to oil palm and cocoa plantations, and human settlements, all of which are projected to increase in the coming decades (Supriatna and Wahyono 2000).

Spread
These animals can be found in Central Sulawesi, starting from the north to the south. The north is bordered by the Siweli-Kasimbar lowlands, southwest by the narrowing of Lake Tempe, and southeast by Lake Matana and Lake Towuti (Supriatna and Wahyono 2000).

These animals are spread in several protected areas, including: Lore Lindu National Park (2,290 km2); Morowali Nature Reserve (2,250 km2); Stake. Faruhumpenai (900 km2) and Towuti (687 km2) and Lake Matano Natural Recreation Park (331 km2).

The Tonkean black monkey lives in the central part of southern Sulawesi to Latimojong, southwest to the base of the Toraja plateau (a place mixed with Macaca maura), southeast to the lake region on the southeastern peninsula, and northwest to the isthmus between Palu and Parigi (where it mixes) with Macaca hecki) (Groves 2001).

Habitat
This species is found in rainforests with medium altitude from sea level to 2,000 meters. Furthermore explained Boti can live in lowland primary forest, secondary forest to an altitude of 1,300 meters above sea level (Supriatna and Wahyono 2000).

Feed
These animals like to eat fruit mainly eat figs and other fruits, but also eat bamboo, seeds, shoots, sprouts, leaves and flower stalks, as well as insects and other invertebrate animals. Near agricultural land, these plants can attack corn, fruit and vegetable plantations. The composition of eating these animals include fruit 57%, leaves 17%, insects 8%, flowers 4%, tree shoots 2%, and the remainder in the form of grass, mushrooms, mollusks, soil and various other types of small vertebrates (Supriatna and Wahyono 2000).

Conservation Status
Macaca tongkeana in the CITES list is included in Appendix II which is vulnerable (Lower Risk / near threat), this species is considered Vulnerable because the continuing decline is estimated to be more than 30% for three generations (around 40 years) in the past and future, due to projections increased oil palm, cacao and human settlements (Supriatna J and Richardson M. 2008). Widespread mining in Central Sulawesi and in the nearby Gorontalo province is believed to exacerbate habitat loss problems (Syamsul Huda MS and Sangadji R 2014).

Editor : Irma H Suparto

Photo : Safari Zoo de Thoiry

Library Reference
Groves CP. 2005. Wilson, DE; Reeder, DM, eds. Mammal Species in the World: References to Taxonomy and Geography (3rd edition). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Thing 165. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.

Supriatna J and Wahyono EH. 2000. Indonesian Primate Field Guide. Prints 1. Jakarta. Indonesian Torch Foundation 2000.

Supriatna J. and Richardson M. 2008. Macaca tonkeana. IUCN Red List Threatened Threatened Species 2008: e. T12563A3359793. Downloaded on August 1, 2017

Syamsul Huda M. Suhari and Ruslan Sangadji. 2014. Mining, deforestation threatens endemic black apes’, The Jakarta Post, 11 February 2014.