We've seen it happen. For example, a visit to the Ouzoud waterfalls in Morocco's High Atlas led to an encounter with a group of nearby tourists feeding chips - supplied by the tour guide - to some waiting Barbary macaques. Pointing to a nearby sign that read "do not feed the monkeys" was met with complaints about spoiling their fun.
Authors
- Sian Waters
Research fellow at the Department of Anthropology, Durham University
- Tracie McKinney
Senior Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, University of South Wales
Scenes like this play out across the globe. Feeding wild primates is common in many countries. Scientists have spent years studying its effects on primate behaviour. But much less attention has been paid to the other side of the interaction - the people doing the feeding.
Our recent research explores not just the effects on animals, but why people feed monkeys in the first place. Understanding that is essential if we want to change behaviour and keep both humans and primates safe.
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As tourism expands and infrastructure develops, humans and primates are living in closer quarters than ever before. Some species like macaques and baboons readily adapt to living in developed areas by foraging in rubbish bins and dumps.
Habitat loss also plays a major role. The wide scale destruction of primate habitat means they come to rely on human food waste or people feeding them.
In some tourism hot spots, feeding the primates, known as "provisioning", is deliberate but regulated, ensuring tourists see the monkeys but cannot feed them. In others, tourists feed even endangered species freely, with little oversight. That's when problems arise.
Uncontrolled feeding brings animals and humans into unusually close contact, and not always in welcome ways. Primates can become aggressive, resulting in bites, scratches and potential disease transmission. They may enter homes and shops, damage property, or intimidate people. Some primates even learn to beg or to steal valuables, returning them only when a food bribe is offered in exchange.
When food sources suddenly disappear, this type of behaviour can escalate. For example, during the pandemic, some macaque populations in Thailand made headlines as "gangs" that caused chaos when tourists stopped visiting. When animals are seen as a public nuisance, calls for culling or relocation often follow.
Nutrition is another issue. The types of foods given to primates are usually calorie-rich and highly processed. Excess consumption of these foods can make primates obese or lead to chronic disease like diabetes. The extra calories allow some species to reproduce every year, leading to larger group sizes and compounding human-wildlife conflict.
Feeding of packaged foods also results in large amounts of plastic and other litter left behind by people. New roads contribute to this problem by offering opportunities to vendors to sell food to road users. The resulting food waste can attract monkeys to the roadside where passing motorists throw them more food. This puts both people and primates at risk of road accidents.
Some societies have fed monkeys for centuries and these interactions can be neutral or positive. However, many instances of people feeding primates causes negative interactions, so understanding why people feed monkeys is vital.
Why people do it
As primate experts , we deal with the negative effects of uncontrolled monkey feeding all the time and know the complexities of this common human behaviour. Our recent review of the relevant research coupled with our own field experiences found a surprising range of motivations for why people feed primates.
We found that feeding primates could be a religious obligation, a way to perform a good deed or obtain good fortune. It may be helpful in managing a person's mental health. Many people feed primates for emotional reasons like pity, or to feel a connection to the animals.
At some sites, residents have a vested interest in the continued practice of monkey feeding as it provides them with an income. Tour guides often receive higher tips when they can provide close animal encounters. Bus and taxi drivers can benefit from taking tourists to sites where they can observe and feed wild primates.
Attempting to stop people from feeding primates is difficult as most perceive it as an enjoyable and carefree activity. Campaigns must be carefully designed and relevant to the local context. This includes understanding why people are feeding primates in the first place.
As scientists we need to better communicate the negative effects of feeding primates to a wider audience. We also need to prevent it from becoming an accepted activity, particularly in areas that could prove dangerous to both people and primates, such as roadsides.
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. But talking to people who feed primates to understand why they do it is fundamental for designing effective management strategies in future.
Sian Waters is affiliated with the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group's Section for Human-Primate Interactions (SHPI) and receives funding from Artis Zoo, Amsterdam, NL Ouwehand Zoo Foundation NL Re:Wild
Tracie McKinney is affiliated with the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group's Section for Human-Primate Interactions (SHPI).
