The species is not rare—yet—but the fate of long-tailed macaques is precarious.
SARIMIN, go to the market, take a basket, don't drop it!" The sound of a plain drum accompanied the yells of Ma'i, 40, the traveling monkey show's director, in the Bintaro Jaya housing complex last week. Sarimin—the common name used for the actor of such a show (for reasons unknown)—also took an umbrella and handbag before swaying its hips like a girl going shopping.
The sarimin is not a rare animal. They have been watched at performances everywhere. Seen in street shows, a sarimin is comparatively luckier than its kin found in the wild. In various regions, the omnivorous, frequently called long-tailed grey monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), are considered a pest that must be eliminated.
Living in groups of over 30, these primates indeed often pose a nuisance to farmers. They are adept looters of nearly all kinds of agricultural produce, from tubers and corn to fruit. "It's not surprising that in many places, macaques have become a target of extermination, though sometimes they are forced to plunder because their habitat is under pressure," said Rosek Nursaid, Chairman of ProFauna Indonesia, an organization in active control of environment conservation.
The monkeys are being killed not only due to their behavior. According to Rosek, the habitat of what are called kethek in Java is shrinking because of illegal hunting and trading. "Almost a hundred percent of the monkeys transacted in Indonesia are believed to be directly caught from their habitat," noted Rosek.
ProFauna proved its suspicion when it investigated the sale of macaque meat in Lampung, Sulawesi, North Sumatra and East Java three years ago. Its findings were shocking. In Lampung alone thousands of monkeys had been slaughtered each year. During September-November 2001, the inquiry found the illicit capture of no less than 3,000 long-tailed monkeys annually.
The monkey trade is in fact enticing. From illegal hunters, such a monkey can be bought in the price range of Rp5,000-Rp15,000. But on the free market the value soars to Rp50,000-Rp75,000 per monkey. "This price is even higher in Jakarta, ranging from Rp100,000 to Rp150,000 per monkey," added Rosek.
The highest price is reached when they are seized for the export market. These primates are ideal for tuberculosis or type-D retrovirus research because they are not susceptible to infection. They also serve biological, behavioral and biomedical studies, particularly in the search for an AIDS vaccine. It's for this reason that the sarimin price on the export market is as high as Rp1 million-Rp2 million per monkey. The considerable price difference actually makes this trade alluring.
Worse still, there is practically no protection for their kin. Long-tailed monkeys are not found on the list of 294 animals and plants protected by Law No. 5/1990 on the conservation of biological natural resources and their ecosystem. Even an overall survey of the monkeys' population and habitat distribution has not been conducted yet.
The minimum data were acknowledged by Antong Hartadi, head of the population restoration section, Directorate of Biological Diversity Conservation, Directorate General of Forest Utilization and Nature Conservation (PHKA). It is just because long-tailed macaques are not categorized as protected species. Article 5 of Government Regulation No. 7/1999 on the preservation of flora and fauna, which is to implement Law No. 5/1990, stipulates that protected plants or animals are those that have small, sharply declining populations and are endemic. "The monkeys are now not yet seen as falling under the criteria," said Antong last week.
The absence of protection also results from the fact that long-tailed primates reproduce and adapt to their environment with ease. Roughly calculated, macaque population distribution is estimated to cover the greater part of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Panaitan, Java, Barung, Bawean, Kangean, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Alor, Sumba and Timor.
If any protection is there, it takes the form of the Minister of Forestry Decree No. 26/Kpts-II/94. It regulates the utilization of long-tailed monkeys, beruk (Macaca nemestrina), arwana fish (Scleropages formosus), and quotas for the capture or export of monkeys. In the course of 2004, the Directorate General of PHKA has granted a total quota of 2,000 monkeys to 10 regions in Indonesia (see table). "They can only be seized to replace female primates for captive breeding. For export, they must come from breeding stocks or females used in previous breeding," added Antong.
Chairul "Uyung" Saleh from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia said though unprotected, it by no means implied long-tailed monkeys could be transacted or killed at will. "As nobody cares, their numbers may be considerably reduced today. The threat [of extinction] remains," said Chairul a week ago.
This threat is noticeable in their shrinking habitat. According to WWF data, in 2000 the habitat of long-tailed macaques decreased as much as 70 percent. Originally, they were roaming safely in various Indonesian areas covering 21,981 square kilometers. Now the safe areas have been reduced to around 7,500 square kilometers.
With no law protecting them as there are for their families like orangutans (Pongo pygmaes) and Java's gibbons (Hylobate moloch), if the illegal hunting and trading continue the listing of these monkeys as a rare species is likely to follow. If this happens, no more people like Ma'i can entertain children with "Sarimin going to the market."
Raju Febrian, Abdi Purmono (Malang)
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