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Welcome to Macaque Mania, our exciting Sulawesi Crested Black Macaque web-cam. Sulawesi Crested Black Macaques are a critically endangered species of Indonesian primate. Newquay Zoo is currently involved in the captive breeding programme and conservation within their native habitat of Sulawesi, helping to preserve this precious and much loved species.

We hope you enjoy watching our playful family of macaques – find out more about them in the Creature Feature profiles below!

 
 
CREATURE FEATURE PROFILES
  Name: Cheeketo To adopt Cheeketo click here
Sex: Male
DOB: 21/03/99   Click here for video
As the breeding male Cheeketo is the most dominant individual, and is responsible for the safety of the rest of the group. He spends a lot of time looking out for possible threats, but also quite likes watching birds like peacocks and seagulls.
  Name: Muna To adopt Muna click here
Sex: Female
DOB: 30/09/94  Click here for video
At 15 years old Muna is the grand old lady of the group. She is the dominant female and is the mother to, Solina, Maggie, Melfi and a new baby boy called Catur. The other macaques benefit from her years of experience and she plays the important role of peacemaker within the group.
  Name: Maggie To adopt Maggie click here
Sex: Female
DOB: 11/04/02  Click here for video
Maggie is mum to Theodora and new baby Sami. Although she is older than her sister Solina, she is less sure of herself, and seems to get told off by Cheeketo quite a lot. However, with her mum and sisters’ help she is learning to stand up for herself a bit more. 
  Name: Solina To adopt Solina click here
Sex: Female
DOB: 14/04/03  Click here for video
Solina is our youngest adult female. She recently became a mum for the first time when she gave birth to Elvis in December. She has turned out to be a brilliant mum and Elvis is thriving under her care. 
  Name: Theodora To adopt Theodora click here
Sex: Female
DOB: 04/01/08  Click here for video
‘Theo’ is the real mischief maker of the group. She is the oldest juvenile and usually the first to instigate fun and games with the youngsters, especially her favourite playmate Melfi. 
  Name: Melfi To adopt Melfi click here
Sex: Female
DOB: 28/03/09    Click here for video
Being the daughter of the dominant female, Melfi is somewhat of a spoilt princess. She will inherit her mothers rank so will probably end up being the boss of all the juvenile macaques. 
  Name: Elvis To adopt Elvis click here
Sex: Male
DOB: 16/12/09  Click here for video
Named for his funky quiff, Elvis is Solina’s first baby. He is getting more independent by the day and regularly leaves mum for short periods to play with Theo and Melfi. 
  Name: Sami To adopt Sami click here
Sex: Female
DOB: 11/02/10  Click here for video
As Sami is still relatively young she spends most of her time with mum Maggie at the moment, although she is starting to find her feet and play with the other juveniles. 
  Name: Catur To adopt Catur click here
Sex: Male
DOB: 06/03/10  Click here for video
Catur is our youngest macaque and is still fairly dependant on mum Muna. He’s almost as big as Sami already and we think he’s going to be a very confident little macaque.
 
 
SPECIES INFORMATION
Sulawesi Crested Black Macaques Macaca nigra
 

Habitat: Sulawesi macaques are mainly found in forested areas on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi but also occur on some smaller adjacent islands. 

Diet: They spend about 60% of their day travelling and foraging for food. Predominantly the diet is made up of fruit but they will consume a wide variety of food items including things like seeds, leaves and small invertebrates.

Appearance: Characterized by their large ‘crest’ of hair. They have entirely black faces and bodies apart from their pink ‘ischial callosites’ which are hairless pads on their rump.

Breeding: There is usually one dominant breeding male within the group. Female gestation is around 5 months, once born young macaques will cling on to their mothers belly for safety.
Behaviour:  They are a highly social species and live in large groups governed by strict dominance hierarchies. Interactions such as playing, grooming and ‘mutual embraces’ are important in maintaining these social bonds.

Conservation: Wild macaque numbers have gone down by 80% in the last 40yrs. Reasons for decline include, hunting for bush meat, and habitat destruction. As a result of this decline they are now classed as critically endangered.

Selamatkan Yaki! Save Sulawesi macaques!
In Sulawesi, macaques are known locally as ‘Yaki’. Selamatkan Yaki, is an integrated conservation programme which aims to save Yaki habitat. As part of the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, Newquay Zoo is playing an important part in the campaign by developing education materials and contributing to the captive breeding programme.  

Did you know?         

  • Communication is very important in macaque society; they have a wide range of vocalisations and facial expressions. Why not look out for:
  • ‘Lipsmacking’ – This is a friendly gesture and macaques will perform it when they are playing, grooming or reconciling after aggressive interactions.
  • ‘coos’- This is call that keeps the macaques in contact with each other while they are travelling or foraging.
  • ‘yawning’ – Males yawn to show off their large canines and enforce their dominance.
  •  While foraging, macaques will often store food items in their cheek pouches and will consume them later.
 
 

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