The pigtailed macaque of Taman TAR Ampang

There are 19 species of macaques identified by scientists so far. Three of the 19 macaque species lives in the jungles bordering Taman Tun Abdul Razak, Ampang Jaya district, Selangor. Of the three, the pigtailed macaque (pix above) and the longtailed macaque comes out of the jungle to be fed by human beings. The silverleaf macaque or lutong in Malay, seldom do so but once in while will show up to eat the juicy fruits of the fig trees.

The pigtailed macaque or beruk in Malay, inhabit tropical evergreen rainforests of Southeast Asia from Myanmar (Burma) to Malaysia and Indonesia. Longtailed macaque or kera in Malay, are found in many of the same places as pigtailed macaques, but they have a larger geographical distribution, extending to the Philippines. The longtailed macaques are more likely to be along rivers or in secondary forest, on flatter terrain, and at lower elevations than pigtailed macaques. Pigtailed macaques more often inhabit primary forest and hilly terrain.

In the east coast states of the Malay peninsula, that is Kelantan and Terengganu, the pigtailed macaques are trained by men to pluck coconuts.