Manado, Ekuatorial – Consuming wild animals meat in North Sulawesi contributed to declining endangered black monkey in province, said a primate expert in Manado, on Tuesday (31/3).
The Macaca nigra or locally known as Yaki is drastically declining for the past 40 years from 4,000 to 5,000 primates to just 2,000 primates found in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Bitung, North Sulawesi, largely due to illegal hunting and declining forest areas.
As a result, the primate has been listed as ‘critically endangered’ at the International Union for Conservation of Natural Reources (IUCN) Red List.
Saroyo Sumarto, primate expert of Sam Ratulangi University, said that the decline was triggered by the habit of consuming wild animals during festive events, such as Christmas, New Year, Easter, and other celebrations.
“The biggest threat for Yaki is illegal hunting for its meat or domesticated,” said Sumarto adding that the black monkey was not easy to breed. “It has a very slow reproduction system. A female macaque can give birth to one baby in 18 months as the fastest.”
Meanwhile, he said that the primate has crucial role for forest protection as it helped to distribute seeds in the forest.
“Yaki, directly, helps, to control ecosystem balance which also benefits for humans. Unfortunately, it is humans becoming its major predator,” he added.
Noldy Tuerah, Director of Synergy Pacific Institute, said that Yaki was an icon for North Sulawesi as it was an endemic animal.
“We can’t let this icon known only by its name. Extinct because of humans,” said Noldy adding that Yaki can become an attraction for eco-tourism and important object for research.
Yaki killings in the province went viral in the internet when a lecturer of a prominent university put up a picture of him holding up two presumably dead Yaki in his facebook page, in 2014.
This prompted to legal investigation by local police on the charge of violating the 1990 Law on Conservation.
The case is still being investigated by North Sulawesi police. Yoseph Ikanubun