Stealing things and beating people, why are the monkeys in Mount Emei so "brutal"?

I don't know when it started, but cursing the monkeys on Mount Emei has become a popular online traffic code. Under a video of monkeys on Mount Emei snatching things, there will always be people cursing and shouting at the monkeys.

The monkeys in Mount Emei are mainly Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana). The monkey in the video chased the tourists who kicked and hit it | Weibo @白鹿视频

In sharp contrast are the golden snub-nosed monkeys in Shaanxi : about two years ago, near Shaanxi Highway 108, some golden snub-nosed monkeys began to come down the mountain and beg for food along the highway, and even some adult male monkeys strayed from the group and entered the village.

This has also become a new traffic code about monkeys, but the public opinion is in the opposite direction : when the media releases videos of feeding golden monkeys, they often receive a lot of "good reviews". Some people shout that the golden monkeys are cute while also cursing the monkeys in Mount Emei .

The golden monkeys in Shaanxi are mainly the Qinling subspecies of Sichuan golden monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana qinlingensis). The golden monkeys in the video can get along with humans "gently" | Weibo @白鹿视频

They are all monkeys, but they are treated very differently by humans. Some people say that this is because the Tibetan macaques are extremely vicious, and the golden monkeys will not show such strong aggression. However, these people probably do not understand Tibetan macaques or golden monkeys, and have not seriously thought about who caused all this .

Are monkeys that steal things naturally annoying?

The behavior of the Tibetan macaques in Mount Emei reminds us of another similar "monkey scenic spot" in China - Qianling Mountain . The macaques (Macaca mulatta) in Qianling Mountain were also "notorious" for their "domineering and tyrannical" behavior. Let's review the growth history of the monkey group there and see how the relationship between humans and monkeys has come to this point.

There were no macaques in Qianling Mountain originally . The root cause of the incident was the escape of several experimental monkeys in the 1960s. If there was no human intervention, due to the limitation of food and space, the escaped macaques would not have overdeveloped in the small Qianling Mountain and would not have had much impact.

The key factor that fueled the incident was the seemingly harmless feeding of the animals by people. Later, a scenic spot was established here, and tourists and internet celebrities flocked here. By feeding the animals, people gained the satisfaction of "love" and a large amount of traffic.

Feeding is common, but many people ignore its disadvantages | মাহফুজ আলম ফয়সাল / Wikimedia Commons

However, many people intentionally or unintentionally overlooked that this kind of feeding is actually a very irresponsible behavior . Since the food fed by humans is very easy to obtain, the behavior of the monkeys gradually changed: from being afraid of humans at first, to getting used to being fed, and finally starting to beg for food.

At the same time, due to the rapid increase in population, small territory, and high density, the macaques, who have a strong sense of territory, have become more irritable; lack of exercise and overeating of junk food can easily induce various physiological diseases in monkeys. The combination of various factors soon induced aggressive behavior .

The photographer of this photo said that this macaque almost hit him | Aiwok / Wikimedia Commons

In recent years, there have been two voices surrounding the monkeys in Qianling Mountain. One is the concern of "loving people", and the other is the call for killing some netizens. Recently, due to the epidemic, the number of tourists in Qianling Mountain has dropped sharply. Due to the lack of food supply, large groups of macaques have begun to enter human living areas , which has led to more serious human-animal conflicts and online panic. But isn't this kind of conflict a backlash?

Macaques foraging in residential areas exacerbates conflicts between humans and monkeys | Weibo @白鹭视频

Human-animal conflict is not just about being beaten up

Compared with the macaque incident in Qianling Mountain, the only difference between the Tibetan macaque incident in Emei Mountain is that the Tibetan macaque is a native population of Emei Mountain , and they have lived here for generations. Everything that happened afterwards seemed like a reappearance of history. Moreover, the Tibetan macaque is more robust and has a more violent personality , which leads to more intense conflicts between humans and animals.

You don't mess with me, I won't mess with you! | Jmhullot / Wikimedia Commons

Human-animal conflict is not just about animals snatching human belongings and "beating" humans. We often overlook the more terrible zoonotic diseases . A common example is rabies. Sometimes, due to blind feeding by humans, stray dogs will beg for food or even bite humans. In addition to the bite itself, people are also worried about the spread of rabies.

But many people may not realize that monkeys and humans are more likely to have zoonotic diseases . As primates, humans and monkeys are very similar in morphology, physiology and biochemistry, metabolic function, genetic composition, etc. This similarity is closely related to the sensitivity of pathogens. Therefore, compared with diseases with other species as animal sources, diseases with non-human primates as animal sources are more likely to cause human diseases and pose a threat to human health.

When in close contact with wild animals, be careful of zoonotic diseases | Alexandra_Koch / Pixabay

A study has found that the short-tailed macaques in the wild monkey valley of Huangshan, which often come into contact with humans, have six viruses in their bodies, including simian herpes B virus, hepatitis A virus, and monkeypox virus. Although no cases of human infection with monkey viruses were found in the study, these viruses can survive in the human body. In other words, tourists who come into contact with the short-tailed macaques in the monkey valley are still at risk of contracting monkey-borne diseases .

Macaca arctoides, a short-tailed macaque, can be found in some scenic spots in southwest my country | Rohit Naniwadekar / Wikimedia Commons

We should also note that such comorbidities are mostly bidirectional . Too much contact with monkeys may not only infect humans, but also transmit their own diseases to animals .

A team once conducted a study on three groups of Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys (the artificially fed group in Shennongjia, the wild group in Shennongjia, and the wild group in the Baihe National Nature Reserve in Sichuan). They found that compared with the two wild monkey groups, the artificially fed group had significantly more parasites . A total of ten parasites were found in the artificially fed monkey group, of which only amoeba was also found in wild monkey groups, and the remaining nine parasites were unique to the artificially fed monkey group. The feeding is mainly due to local ecotourism, which shows that the frequent contact between humans and Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys in ecotourism also has a negative impact on the health of Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys .

Here we would like to mention marmots . In fact, plague caused by contact with marmots occurs in pastoral areas every year, but it has not attracted much attention. On the contrary, some areas have made feeding and contacting marmots a "net celebrity project" and even sold marmots in the pet market, which is actually a huge safety hazard .

Just look at me online, I don't recommend direct contact with me in the wild! | Musicaline / Wikimedia Commons

Don't ignore the seemingly gentle golden monkey

So, are the Tibetan macaques in Mount Emei and the macaques in Mount Qianling really ferocious and aggressive, unlike the cute and polite golden monkeys?

Of course not. Originally, macaques and Tibetan macaques were also very cute and "polite". They never really hurt humans intentionally . Golden monkeys may be slightly gentler than Tibetan macaques, but no animal is absolutely non-aggressive , let alone these primates with strong arms and huge canine teeth. If you have a chance, you can go to the Golden Monkey Pavilion in the Beijing Zoo. There is a hot-tempered Guizhou golden monkey there. Whenever it sees a tourist it doesn't like, it will jump up and slap the cage to attack and intimidate.

I may look gentle, but please keep your distance | Danielinblue / Wikimedia Commons

If people continue to feed them without restraint, one day the golden snub-nosed monkey population will also become dependent on this way of obtaining food , and their psychology and behavior will inevitably develop in the direction of the monkeys in Mount Emei and Mount Qianling. The golden snub-nosed monkeys will become sick due to long-term feeding, and conflicts between humans and animals will intensify; by then, they will no longer be "cute", let alone "polite".

People's feeding has actually affected the health of Shaanxi golden monkeys | Weibo @白鹿视频

It is foreseeable that human attitudes will change from love to curse. However, looking at all this, whose fault is it that irresponsible feeding leads to begging behavior, physiological and psychological pathological development, and finally induces aggressive behavior?

What can we do?

At present, if we want to end or prevent human-monkey conflicts, the key is still people . First of all, we need to raise the awareness of ordinary people and realize the harm of irresponsible feeding behavior; at the same time, local relevant departments should seriously popularize the law, strictly enforce relevant laws and regulations, and curb random feeding behavior. In addition, guide and drive away the monkeys, try to avoid human-monkey contact, and let the monkeys gradually restore their natural behavior. In addition to necessary protection work, do not excessively intervene in the monkeys to allow them to develop healthily. As for artificially created populations, scientific assessments need to be made to control their population size. Only in this way can the conflict between humans and monkeys be gradually calmed down and normality can be restored.

Human activities are also affecting monkey behavior | SHARDUL NIMBALKAR / Wikimedia Commons

When we encounter wild animals, we can't help but want to feed them. It may be out of instinctive kindness or to satisfy our desire to get close to nature. But we often ignore the harmfulness of this practice. The seemingly insignificant and self-righteous "good deeds" are destroying the fragile harmony between humans and nature . As ordinary people, when wild animals appear around us, there is no need to panic or be overly loving. Keeping a distance and not disturbing each other is the best protection for animals and humans .

In addition to the wild animals in the mountains, the same is true for the wild animals in the zoo. The zoo is a place where we observe the natural behavior of animals. Click on the video to teach you how to visit the zoo scientifically↓

References

[1] Zhu Yong. Study on the risk and behavioral factors of disease transmission in macaques[D]. Anhui University, 2014.

[2] Zhang Bo, Ye Jingjing, Lu Lang, Yao Hui, Yang Wanji, Qin Jianyong, Xiang Zuofu. Effects of ecotourism on intestinal parasites of Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys[J]. Acta Theriologica Sinica, 2017, 37(01): 66-77.

Author: Huosi

Edit: Thoughts

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