When cruising the Kinabatangan river in search of wildlife it’s impossible to miss the numerous long-tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Found in a wide range of habitats including forests, mangroves, plantations and villages it is beyond doubt Southeast Asia’s most successful primate. Despite the fact this rather common species competes with more iconic primates such as the Orang Utang or the Proboscis Monkey on most bucket lists, the cheeky social interaction and inquisitive nature of the long-tailed Macaques deliver entertaining wildlife-watching almost guaranteed. They therefore could easily be considered the most reliable jungle animals for the boatsmen who try to deliver the best possible sightings to visiting tourists day in, day out!
Maurice, that top photo is especially cute.
janet
Thank you Janet – they’re gorgeous animals so much like ourselves 🙂
Amazing shots of such fascinating animals. As always, thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you Takami! I guess youngsters are always fascinating in a way, isn’t it? – just as with the tiger cubs you showed us the other day
I agree, youngsters are always fascinating, and they always seem in awe of the world, looking for new adventures. I think we adults can learn something from them 🙂 🙂
Totally agree 🙂
Very sweet photos!
Thank you!
Wonderful photos and a great introduction to a new (for me) species, thanks Maurice. They seem to be quite confident and easily seen, unlike many other forest monkeys that are quick to hide when humans appear.
Thank you Dries! Long-tailed macaques are far from shy indeed – when observing them it’s always the question ‘who watches who’. They perform real life soap operas that include playing, eating, fighting and mating – and sometimes nursing when you’re lucky 🙂
Sounds like you’d be able to spend days with them without ever getting bored!
Totally true! Every time you stop to watch those rascals you think by yourself “no more pictures” – but although you already got around a hundred shots you just can’t stop taking some more as they keep showing all these recognisable emotions. They’re just the perfect subjects and they somehow seem to know it too 🙂