Monkeys eat rat meat, astonishing researchers

Pig-tailed macaques eat mice so much that they can replace chemical spraying to control pests in palm oil plantations.

Pig-tailed macaque is often viewed as a pest and researchers think that they mainly eat fruits, small birds, and lizards, according to a report published in Current Biology on October 21.

Pig-tailed macaque helps to control rats in palm oil plantation.(Photo: CNN).

"I was astounded when I first observed the monkeys eating rats at the plantation," said Nadine Ruppert, a co-author of research at the Malaysian University of Science. "I don't think they hunt this rodent and eat that much meat."

By reducing the number of rats, researchers suggest that monkeys can help maintain the sustainability of plantations. Malaysia supplies 30% of the world's palm oil, a source of cheap vegetable oil used in many food and consumer goods like shampoos.

Rats can reduce production by 10%, which is worth $ 930 million a year in Malaysia, but rat poison is both ineffective and expensive. The chemicals also affect many other species and their surroundings.

The team tracked two groups of monkeys, each consisting of about 44 individuals, in the Segari Melintang forest reserve from January 2016 to September 2018. The report showed that monkeys ate a lot of palms but they also ate rats, which caused greater losses in yields.

By looking for burrows in the palm of the palm, where rats shelter during the day, a herd of pig-tailed monkeys can catch more than 3,000 mice a year, according to research leader Anna Holzner at Leipzig University and the Institute of Anthropology Max Planck. Monkeys limit crop damage from 10% to less than 3%, saving US $ 650 million per year. The research team emphasized that palm oil farmers and companies should protect monkeys, which are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This will contribute to increasing productivity and sustainable environment for plantations.

"We hope the research results will encourage plant owners to consider ways to protect monkeys and their natural habitats around them, " said Anja Widdig, a researcher at the University of Leipzig.

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