Oral Presentation The International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ): 27th Annual Conference 2018

Human-macaque conflict in Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP), Philippines. (#16)

Lief Erikson D Gamalo 1 , Vachel Gay Paller 1 , Balbir Singh 2 , Judeline Dimalibot 1 , Augusto Asis 3 , Bryan Anas 3 , Nevung Puna 3 , Joselito Baril 1
  1. Animal Biology Division, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Philippines
  2. Malaria Research Centre, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
  3. Puerto Princesa , Subterranean River National Park, Philippines

Introduction: Human-macaque conflict has already been reported in different parts of the world where there are overlaps between human and macaque resources. In the Philippines, there are limited to no study on human-macaque interactions. In this study, human-macaque conflict was documented in PPSRNP, and the attitudes and practices of the locals towards macaques in the area were also investigated.

Methodology: Direct observation of the conflict was done from August to September 2017 for 15 non-consecutive days in the Central Park Station (CPS) of the park. Continuous-all occurrences sampling on pest behaviors was done. Moreover, a questionnaire was given to 303 households living inside the park. Lastly, the visitor’s complaint section was also visited. X2 test was used to know the differences between percentages of the answers of the respondents. This allow the researcher to know if a certain answer or a certain type of pest behavior is more common than the other/s. All statistics were tested using SPSS. Statistical significance for all tests was set at P ≤ 0.05.

Main Results: It was directly observed that the most common pest behavior of the macaque to the park personnel in CPS was littering (n=9; 42%; X2= 5.524, p= 0.03), while according to the locals, eating of crops was the most common pest behavior (n=127; 93.4%; X2= 242.380, p= 0.000). Although, there were no existing tourist complains towards the macaques, park personnel reported that aggressive tourist-macaque encounters also happen in the park. Meanwhile, it was also observed that the practices and attitudes of the people toward macaques in the area is still positive. There were lower percentage of households which hunt macaques (19.8%; X2= 110.525, p= 0.000), kept macaque as pets (5.3%; X2= 242.380, p= 0.000) or eat macaques’ meat (34%; X2= 31.053, p= 0.000).

Principal Conclusion and Implications for Field: The findings suggest that the human-macaque conflict in PPSRNP is relatively less severe compared to other reports from other countries. Controlling the direct or indirect feeding is very essential for proper management of the macaques as their pest behaviors are much linked to food availability in near human settlement.

  1. Sha, J. C. M., Gumert, M. D., Lee, B. P. H., Jones-Engel, L., Chan, S., & Fuentes, A. 2009.Macaque– human interactions and the societal perceptions of macaques in Singapore. American Journal of Primatology 71(10): 825839.