Long-tailed Macaque

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The Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis), one of approximately two dozen Macaca species, inhabits a wide swath of area in Southeast Asia.

They are a medium sized species with males averaging about two feet in length and twenty pounds in weight. Females are always a bit smaller. Their tails are almost always longer than their body length, hence the common name.

Long-tailed Macaques are adaptable monkeys, easily habituated to residential areas. Their omnivorous diet includes crabs, which accounts for another common name, the Crab-eating Macaque.

Ten different subspecies have been recognized and their wide range translates into an overall stable aggregate population.

© 2010 Patricia A. Michaels.