Macaca siberu
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Anthony B. Rylands
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Cercopithecidae
Macaca
Macaca siberu

description: 10.
Siberut Macaque
Macaca siberu
French: Macaque de Siberut / German: Siberut-Makak / Spanish: Macaco de Siberut
Other common names: Siberut Island Macaque
Taxonomy. Macaca pagensis siberu Fuentes & Olson, 1995,
Indonesia, Siberut Island.
M. siberu was first described by Fuentes and Olson in 1995 as a subspecies of M. pagensis. In 2002, A. Kitchener and C. P. Groves reviewed the taxonomy of the species and concluded that it was sufficiently distinct to warrant species status as M. siberu. M. siberu is a member of the silenus species group of macaques, including M. pagensis, M. leonina, M. nemestrina, M. silenus, and the Sulawesi species. Monotypic.
Distribution. Mentawai Archipelago (Siberut I).
Descriptive notes. Head-body 47-48 cm (males) and 40-45 cm (females), tail 13— 16 cm (males) and 10-13 cm (females); weight 6-9 kg (males) and 4.5-6 kg (females). The Siberut Macaque is similar to the Pagai Macaque (M. pagensis), but it has ajet-black back and a white to silvery-white underside. Cheek patches of the Siberut Macaque are white, and it lacks neck patches as are found on the Pagai Macaque. Ischial callosities are light-colored. Tail is hairless except at the base and much shorter than that of the Pagai Macaque (less than 20% of head-body length). Facial structure of the Siberut Macaque is broader than in the Pagai Macaque.
Habitat. Nearly all types of forest, including primary dipterocarp forest, primary mixed forest, mangrove, secondary forest, riparian forest, logged forest, and nipa palm groves. Siberut Macaques strongly prefer primary forest. Mentawai forests are ever-wet rainforests, with annual rainfall of up to 4000 mm.
Food and Feeding. Ripe fruits are predominant in the diet of the Siberut Macaque (c.75%); they also eat arthropods, leaves, fungus, and bark.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. There is no information available for this species.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Group cohesion of Siberut Macaques appears to be low; they often split into smaller foraging groups during the day. Travel (2-3 km/day) is mostly terrestrial, they feed in the canopy, and rest in the middle forest layers. Siberut Macaques spend most of their time in the middle layer of the forest. At night, they use tall dipterocarps on ridges for sleeping trees. The home range of a group studied in northern Siberut was 125 ha. Groups of up to 15 individuals have been observed in central Siberut, while larger groups of up to 27 individuals have seen in the north of the island. Groups are made up of one adult male, one or more adult females, and offspring. Siberut Macaques produce a diverse array of vocalizations throughout the day, including a loud, harsh bark produced by adult males, and given frequently around dawn. This call may function to indicate the direction of foraging in the morning. The Siberut Macaque occasionally interacts with sympatric langurs, sometimes forming mixed species associations with the Siberut Langur (Presbytis siberu). The most recent estimate suggests a density of ¢.16 ind/km® in the Peleonan forest of northern Siberut.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Vulnerable on The [UCN Red List. Legal protection of the Siberut Macaque in Indonesia is questionable because it is a newly recognized species. In recent years, forest clearing, logging, conversion to oil palm plantations, and the harvesting of non-timber forest products by local people have decimated its habitat. Hunting has increased with a burgeoning human population and improved access to remote areas due to logging roads and tracks. Rifles have replaced bows and arrows, and local rituals and taboos that formerly regulated hunting have been lost. Although not a preferred food, the Siberut Macaque is still hunted and poisoned because it is a crop pest. The pet trade is also a threat, and Siberut Macaques are kept and sold as pets in the Mentawai Islands. It occurs in one protected area, Siberut National Park, and is also abundant in Peleonan forest in northern Siberut, which is currently protected in the short-term by local agreements to exclude the area from logging concessions. Mentawai macaques in captivity in Indonesia may actually be Siberut Macaques rather than Pagai Macaques, but otherwise the Siberut Macaque has not been recorded in captivity. The total population is ¢.17,000-30,000 individuals, down from ¢.39,000 in 1980. An action plan published in 2006 suggested the following conservation actions: increased protection for Siberut National Park, which currently lacks enforcement; formal protection of the Peleonan forest in northern Siberut, which is home to unusually high primate populations and is easily accessible; conservation education, especially regarding hunting; and the development of alternative economic models for the local people to reduce the likelihood of selling their lands to logging companies.
Bibliography. Abegg & Thierry (2002a, 2002b), Fuentes (2002), Gras (2010), Groves (2001), Kitchener & Groves (2002), Roos et al. (2003), Schneider etal. (2008), Whittaker (2006), Whitten & Whitten (1982).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cercopithecidae, pp. 550-755 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 635, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6867065