What Can YOU Do

“Saving one animal won’t change the world, but it will change the world for that one animal.”

Unknown Author

If you are a resident living near nature reserves:
(Jones-Engel, Engel, Gumert & Fuentes, 2011; National Parks Board, 2014)

  1. Monkey-proof your bins as refuse and litter will draw macaques
    • This can be done by securing the lid with a bungee cord or elastic strap
  2. Car covers to protect your cars from possible damage
  3. Monkey-proof doors and windows to prevent entry
    • Install grills or window meshes
    • Alternatively, close all windows and doors when monkeys are in the vicinity and when you are not at home
  4. Store food in opaque containers or ovens, microwaves and cabinets to keep them out of sight
  5. Use recyclable bags for groceries as monkeys tend to recognise plastic bags as a source of food
  6. If a monkey enters your home, spray them with water from a distance to lead them out of your house

The list goes on, but the point is you do not want to let the macaques find a point of entry into your house. Once they successfully enter and manage to find food, it is likely that they will return again to forage. In the video below, ACRES interviews a resident at Lower Peirce Reservoir on what he has done and what can be done to co-exist with macaques.


Source. ACRES SG. (2015, February 27). Mind your monkey business with Russell part 1 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4SR00W5k5I

If you are a visitor to nature reserves:
(National Parks Board, 2014)

  1. Maintain a respectable distance away from the macaques
  2. Do NOT feed the macaques
    • Hide all food items if you realise that they are attracting macaques
  3. Do NOT make eye-contact with macaques
  4. Learn about the different facial expressions of macaques as they are quite different from us (refer to Macaques and you for more information)
    • e.g. What we may perceive as a smile by the monkey is actually an expression of fear! Hence when you see a monkey ‘smile’, it means it’s probably time to back off.

To find out more about macaques, you can sign up for monkey walks conducted by experts from the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore)! Give the macaques a chance, and improve your understanding about them through these walks. Check out the available dates (click here) and register at sg.monkey.walk@gmail.com!

It is a privilege to be able to witness wildlife in urban Singapore, and not just any wildlife, but a species that is native to Singapore! With these small steps, let us all work towards gaining a better understanding of the long-tailed macaques of Singapore, and with tolerance and time, may we create an environment in Singapore where we can co-exist peacefully with wildlife.

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