Grant for Singapore-based students, researchers to research primates
Grace Chua, Straits Times 8 Jun 09;
A MONKEY scampered up to a woman at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and snatched the sandwich right out of her hand. She shrieked and backed away.
'Did you see that?' asked primate researcher Michael Gumert, who has been observing the troop of long-tailed macaques roaming the park.
Such incidents are a perennial problem for park visitors; those who live nearby have even had food stolen from their kitchens.
In answer to the call by scientists and conservationists for more research into local monkey populations in order to understand their behaviour, a new research grant programme has been launched.
The Primate Research Initiative, unveiled yesterday, is funded by a conservation group, the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore).
Dr Goodall, an eminent conservationist and chimpanzee researcher, said yesterday that the initiative will help conservation, and, it is hoped, will 'set some young people on a career in research'.
The grants for primate-related research projects will be between $1,000 and $5,000.
Singapore-based students, post-doctoral fellows and other researchers are invited to apply for these from the third quarter of this year.
Dr Gumert of Nanyang Technological University's psychology division, has, with Mr John Sha, formerly of the National Parks Board, added to the body of knowledge on the long-tailed macaques here; they have had two papers published, one in the American Journal of Primatology and the other in Biodiversity & Conservation.
The team found, for instance, that the island has 1,500 macaques - not a particularly large population - but because these primates live along forest edges, they are especially visible.
'People think there are lots of monkeys based on the number of sightings rather than actual population count,' he said.
He also found that two in three close encounters between macaques and humans took place when the human was carrying food or something that looked like food; another one-quarter of incidents happened when someone provoked the animal.
But despite the fear or irritation these incidents cause, more than 430 out of 500 people polled here think it is important to protect the animals.
Programmes like the Primate Research Initiative are important as much remains to be found out about the animals' behaviour, Dr Gumert said.
'Even the best primatologists may know just 40 to 50 per cent of why the animals do what they do,' he added.
So far, he and his students have studied a particular troop of about 55 animals.
He would like to find out how individuals' ranks in the group, their blood ties and facial 'attractiveness' shape their social behaviour.
He believes that his study of Thai macaques using stones to crack open clams and snails may shed light on how prehistoric humans came to use tools.
Teaching visitors a trick or two about primates
Straits Times 8 Jun 09;
TWO years ago, a long-tailed macaque leapt through Jessica Chan's window and pinched her acne cream.
Rather than set a trap for 'Curious George', the Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) student and her schoolmates embarked on a mission to understand why people run into conflict with monkeys.
Their project, Monkey Business, started with a poll of park visitors' attitudes towards Singapore's 1,500 long-tailed macaques.
The conclusion was unsurprising: Many people viewed them as pests.
But what they learnt by working with Nanyang Technological University primate researcher Michael Gumert was surprising: For example, what people perceive as a snarl by a macaque is actually a 'grin' - of fear. Also, much of the human-macaque conflict can be prevented by not feeding the animals.
So the girls trained student volunteers to educate visitors about monkey behaviour, and sold T-shirts, postcards and pins to raise awareness and funds.
The project has been successful.
Team member Emily Loh said: 'Sometimes, we meet visitors whom we had talked to earlier, and it's very encouraging when they recognise us and tell us they have not been feeding or going too near the monkeys.'
Soon, 'do not feed the monkeys' signs in cartoon form designed by the girls will go up in parks, and an illustrated children's book they produced will be distributed to libraries and schools.
Last Saturday, the students manned a booth at a National Parks Board roadshow in Tampines, speaking to visitors about macaques.
Last year, besides funding from the National Youth Council and the Lee Foundation, the girls received $1,000 in an 'Animal Protectors Grant' from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, an animal welfare group.
The grant supports projects with a 'positive impact' on animal welfare here. Also among last year's eight grant recipients was a group which ran a cat sterilise-and-release programme in East Coast Park.
Anyone can apply for the grant, capped at $1,500 a project. The application deadline is July 31. Log on to www.animalwelfare.sg/grants.html
