Healing Hanuman’s Army: Veterinary Care as a Core Component of One Health Principles in a Southeast Asian Monkey Forest

Simple Summary This study examines patterns of injury and mortality in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) at the Ubud Monkey Forest in Bali, Indonesia. This forest is situated in an urban landscape that is continuously developed and modified to suit the needs of international tourism. The macaques at the site face the typical challenges of living in social groups, and novel challenges of negotiating an urban environment. Forest management has actively committed to the physical and psychological health of the macaques for over 40 years. The addition of a veterinary clinic in the last decade addresses the needs of injured macaques, while inadvertently strengthening their One Health framework. In this collaborative work, we review patterns of injury and mortality among individuals brought to the clinic over a four-year span. Males and younger macaques were over-represented among injured individuals seen at the veterinary clinic. The most common natural causes of harm were from falls and macaque-inflicted wounds. The most common anthropogenic causes of harm were vehicular collisions, electrocutions, gunshots, and plastic pollution. These results are critical for effectively managing wildlife in urban areas across the globe. This study demonstrates the importance of local stakeholders’ knowledge of their environment and effective programs to manage wildlife by synthesizing conventional conservation initiatives with cultural patterns, and religious and philosophical approaches. Abstract Wildlife that inhabit urban landscapes face the dual challenge of negotiating their positions in their group while navigating obstacles of anthropogenically modified landscapes. The dynamics of urban environments can result in novel injuries and mortalities for these animals. However, these negative impacts can be mitigated through planning, and onsite veterinary care like that provided by the Ubud Monkey Forest in Bali, Indonesia. We examined 275 recorded injuries and mortalities among six social groups of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) brought to the veterinary clinic from 2015–2018. We fit the probabilities of injury vs. death among macaques brought to the clinic using a multilevel logistic regression model to infer the relationship between injury vs. death and associated demographic parameters. Males were more likely to sustain injuries and females were more likely to die. The frequency of injuries and mortalities changed over the four-year study period, which was reflected in our model. The odds of mortality were highest among young macaques and the odds of injury vs. mortality varied across the six social groups. We categorized injuries and mortalities as “natural” or “anthropogenic”. Most injuries and mortalities were naturally occurring, but powerlines, motorized vehicles, and plastic present ongoing anthropogenic threats to macaque health. Most wounds and injuries were successfully treated, with healthy animals released back to their group. We suggest other sites with high levels of human–alloprimate interplays consider the Ubud Monkey Forest veterinary office as a model of care and potentially adopt their approaches.