Bookmark - Zhuqi Monkey (Animal Series - Mammals)

Originally posted in a series from our most recent trip to Taiwan, this wild Formosan Macaque was using a cable serving as a highway over a valley between his home and some fruit trees on the other side.  Seeing me clacking away with the Bigger Cahoona, he chickened out and returned to his brood without breakfast that day.

Bookmark - Taipei Zoo Macaque (Animal Series - Mammals)

This one required lots of post-capture work since this guys' facial features were almost entirely obscured by shadow.  Looks forlorn and lonely, doesn't he?  Very reflective, pensive demeanor.  Reminded me of one of the saddest pictures I've ever taken of a primate, a picture originally posted here.

Bookmark Project - Rock Macaque at the Taipei Zoo (animals)

We did encounter some wild macaques near the village where Chenjean grew up, but this pic - the best of the lot - was captured at the Taipei Zoo.

These guys are native exclusively to the island of Taiwan, and have an interesting - and perhaps tragically predictable - history.

My very first time visiting Chenjean's parents was in December of 1987, and I will never forget the monkeys that were there.  Just a few steps from their house was a place where they had a few monkeys on display.  Instead of in cages, however, they had cables connected between two trees at a level that was low enough for visitors to get a close view.  The monkeys were tethered to these cables with a loop that allowed them freedom of movement from one tree to the next; at one end there was an old 55-gallon barrel that offered protection from the frequent rains, and wind generated by the several hurricanes that pass through each year.

Naturally the first morning there, after we'd eaten breakfast, I made a beeline to see the monkeys.  It was such a romantic notion...here I was smack dab in the middle of the jungles of Formosa that I'd read about as a child in school, and here were some of the native monkeys that underscored the fact that we were really in this exotic land.  At the time there were two adults and a baby latching on to what was presumably the mother.  I spent some time there, transfixed...until I noticed something.

I looked closer...could this be true?  Yes, each of the adults had only one hand.  When I asked it was explained to me that a hand was cut off from the adults because they were smart enough to undo their chains, and this handicap prevented them from getting away.  The baby, however, was allowed to keep both hands because it wasn't about to leave its mother.

I was blown away by this.  Who is it that catches a monkey and cuts off a hand?  Well, it was about money.  This little village was a tourist stop for the islanders on their way to a waterfall that was a major attraction at the time.  The monkeys were there to entice the visitors to linger long enough to stop for a meal or buy some trinkets.  When I was there in 1987 for my first visit the volume of tourists had slowed to a trickle in the waning days of the attraction, but these hapless creatures were still there because they had no chance of survival were they to be released.

Very much to their credit, the authorities were eventually persuaded to crack down on this type of cruelty and passed legislation to protect the species.  Some relics of the tourism have survived, but the monkeys have since been left largely alone to proliferate in the wild.

Taiwan - Taipei Zoo, Macaque Approaching

The individual at the left appears to be a juvenile, looking warily at an approaching adult...

Taiwan - Taipei Zoo, Formosan Rock Macaque

This is the Formosan Rock Macaque, displayed in a separate enclosure here at the zoo with some of his buddies.  Don't know about you, but I think these specimens look a little scragglier than the one we saw in the wild on one of our hikes (posted here).

Taiwan - Chenjean's Village, Monkey on a Wire

After Terry called me back to the spot I immediately went crazy snapping away at full zoom, thankful that my lens's 300mm gave me the reach to get close.  Noticing that he was the center of attention, this guy stopped his progress along the wire to check us out, assessing whether we were a threat or could be safely ignored.  Surely the loud clacking of the 850's shutter was a strange noise that added tension to our presence.

We learned at the zoo later that this is a Formosan Rock Macaque, native only to the island of Taiwan.  At one time their numbers steeply declined due to the pet trade, something I saw first-hand during a visit there in 1987.  When this got out of hand they were placed under protection, which recovered their numbers so well that they ran amuck and became a nuisance to farmers trying to grow crops.  The locals told us that just one of these guys can do significant damage, as one would climb a fruit tree, pick one and tuck it under his arm to carry away.  Seeing more fruit, he would then pick another and attempt to tuck the second one under his arm along with the first one - see where this is going?  Yes, the first one would fall away as the arm lifted to make room for the second, and you know what happens...so it would go until the entire tree is stripped bare, with the monkey sauntering off with only the last one picked under his arm.

When we were there, in mid May, the only fruit in season in the area was the bell fruit, pictured at left.  And this was the tail end of the season, so most was either picked for market (or by monkeys) or had fallen to rot on the ground.  We imagined that our friend here was headed to a favorite tree to get some for himself and perhaps his family.