Formosan rock macaque  (Macaca cyclopis)

Like so many primates, the Formosan rock macaque has drastically declined in numbers at the hands of their close relative, humans (8). Reports from 1989, when the Wildlife Conservation Law was enacted, state that the very survival of this species was in serious jeopardy, with at least 3,000 a year being killed for food, medicinal preparations, and taken as pets and for research (5) (8). Sadly, macaques' similarity to humans in physiology and disease susceptibility has made them a popular subject of biological, medicinal and psychological research (5). Additionally, this species was being exploited for trade of curiosities, such as ashtrays made from their skulls, sold in night markets (8). Human encroachment has also heavily impacted population numbers through habitat destruction, restricting the Formosan rock macaque primarily to remote inland highlands (5).

Throughout the 1990s, following the enactment of the Wildlife Conservation Act, the Formosan rock macaque was the focus of Taiwan's intensive and highly successful conservation efforts, which have significantly increased population numbers. However, the larger, rebounded population of these macaques has created some new problems in their relationship with humans. For example, farmers have begun to complain that the species is a serious crop pest and have tried strategies from dogs to firecrackers to traps to try to deal with the thieves. In addition, in areas where tourists regularly feed the macaques, people have been attacked by monkeys demanding food, and some macaques have become over-dependent on human feeding. Thus, although the growing numbers of Formosan rock macaques is a great conservation success story, the equally growing tension between humans and monkeys highlights the need for conservation management to consider the wider ecological picture, if they are to create a balanced, harmonious and sustainable relationship between these two primate species (8).