Celebes crested macaque

Facts

IUCN CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (CR)

Facts about this animal

The Sulawesi crested macaque reaches a head-body length of 50-57 cm in males and 45-55 cm in females. Males may reach a body weight of more than 10 kg, the weight of females ranges from 3.6-5.5 kg. The tail is short, measuring only about 1.5-2.5 cm. The face is blackish, sparsely covered with short blackish hairs, the muzzle elongated, the eards nnaked or with sparse white hairs, and there is a crest of 5-15 cm long hairs on the crown.The coat is dense and woolly, black, blackish or grizzled in colour. Females are generally somewhat paler than males.

Breeding is non-seasonal and therefore occurs at any time of year. Females come into oestrous every 33-36 days and advertise their fertility with swollen pink bottoms. After a gestation period of 5½ months a single infant is born, which is blackish with a dusky grey face. Older infants are brown. They reach sexual maturity at 4-6 years.

Sulawesi crested macaques are social monkeys and used to live in groups of up to 100 individuals, which may split into smaller units of 10-25 individuals for foraging. The groups are led by dominant males . Due to their decline in numbers, they are now found in smaller groups only.

Sulawesi crested macaques feed on figs, other fruit and plant material, insects, crabs and small vertebrates such as mice and lizards.

Did you know?
that two subspecies of the Sulawesi crested macaque have been described - Macaca nigra nigra and Macaca nigra nigrescens, which are considered to represent two different species by some authors?

Factsheet
Class	MAMMALIA
Order	PRIMATES
Suborder	SIMIAE
Family	CERCOPITHECIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Macaca nigra
Name (English)	Celebes crested macaque
Name (French)	Macaque nègre
Name (German)	Schopfmakak
Name (Spanish)	Macaco Negro Crestado
CITES Status	Appendix II
CMS Status	Not listed

Photo Copyright by
Wilfried Berns

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Indonesia: Northeastern Sulawesi and introduced to Bacan Island
Habitat	Tropical forests
Wild population	The density is estimated at approx. 3 individuals/km2, except in Viewing Batuangus where is approx. 60 individuals/km2. The introduced population in the island of Pulau Bacán in the Moluccas, is likely to be less than the 100,000 individuals ( 1998) (Red List IUCN 2011)
Zoo population	234 reported to ISIS (2006)

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 31 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
Kaldari

Why do zoos keep this animal

The Sulawesi crested macaque is endangered in the wild due to ongoing habitat loss and degradation and to uncontrolled hunting for food. Therefore three regions - Australia, Europe and North America - maintain coordinated ex situ breeding programmes.

How this animal should be kept

Sulawesi macaques are social animals and should be kept in groups. For a group of up to five adults with their offspring an outdoor enclosure of at least 100 m²/3 m high should be provided, but preferably the monkeys should be kept in a much larger enclosure, with natural vegetation, and could be confined by water moats or electrified fences.

The enclosures must have ample climbing and swaying opportunities, such as live or dead trees, branches, ropes, nets, hammocks, and boards at different levels. In warmer climatic zones there should be an additional shelter/separation cage, in colder zones both an indoor and outdoor enclosure is required. The indoor enclosure should have a size of at least 100 m²/3 m high. Indoor temperature should be maintained at 15ºC at least. In artificially lightened indoor enclosures the day phase should be 12 h. The indoor enclosure should be connected by at least two doors to the outdoor enclosure.

Food should be offered at several places and at least twice per day. It should consist of a variety of fruit and vegetables, seeds and nuts, branches in leaf as well as some animal protein.