Distressed long-tailed macaque female in Don Chao Poo Forest, Phana

I was witness to a distressing scene in the forest a few days ago. I came across this group of monkeys which I took to be a family group. The adult female grooming a younger monkey had only just arrived, trailing with her a dead infant. The infant seemed wet and at first I assumed it had drowned, but as I saw it more I thought that it was so small and thin that it had perhaps been stillborn only moments before.

     

I assume that the monkey receiving the grooming was a female since it was adult and so unlikely to be allowed in the group if it was male. The low body position in the first shot suggests submission, since it doesn’t look at all comfortable, and the bowed head in the second shot also looks as if this monkey is unhappy – but perhaps I am just applying a human judgment here. This position is repeated in the following sequential shots.

     

Notice how the female (mother) doing the grooming is also retaining ownership of the dead infant by placing her left foot on the body.

The grooming did not continue for more than a couple of minutes before the mother was left on her own with the dead infant.

     

In these few minutes the body had dried and the mother also moved it around as you can see by comparing the last two shots with the previous ones. And after a minute or so more, she set off on a frantic journey backwards and forwards that seemed to indicate that she was deeply distressed. I switched to video and shot three sequences, although she made at least two more changes of location that I was unable to keep up with.

The monkey which sits down with her in the last shot is almost certainly the same one she was grooming earlier and most likely a sibling or even an offspring. The mother trusts her as you can see when she does not react to the infant’s tail being picked up and sniffed.

This distressed macaque disappeared into the undergrowth and I did not attempt to follow her. Unfortunately I was not able to pick out any distinguishing features she might have so I don’t know whether or not I have seen her again

Comments

[Martyn]

Lawrence - Those are very distressing photographs and even more so when clicked and enlarged. They do however show the close link monkeys and humans have. A mother's grief is not easy to hide.

Keep up the good work as your photos and footage are both interesting and of great educational value to many people.

[Lawrence]

Thanks, Martyn. The more I see of these monkeys the more similarities I see with humans. Observing them is a good way to consider how we humans behave because most of the time we just take our own behaviour for granted. And the other thing that occurs to me is how much of our own behaviour is instinctive and culturally ingrained.

[michael hare]

As always, a wonderful post Lawrence. I have just spent one hour back reading your posts. Wonderful information.

Seriously Lawrence, some university will soon confer a honorary Doctor of Science on you and it will be well deserved.

I enjoyed your post about Singapore. My son was there two weeks ago and appreciated the gardens and trees.

I read today that Bangkok's Ratchaprasong area aims to emulate Singapore's Orchard Road. Do you think they can do it?