Dramatic Consequences of Food Handouts to Macaca thibetana at Mount Emei, China

Food handouts to Macaca thibetαnα at Mt. Emei have had dramatic consequences for both man and monkey as tourism has increased over the last decade. Food handouts and human submissive behaviour facilitate beg-robbing by the monkeys, which can be regarded as a mixed conditioning chain. Because of their lack of understanding of primate behaviour and resulting inappropriate responses, many visitors have lost possessions and have been severely frightened or even injured; in fact there have been 10 deaths as an indirect result over that past 8 years. The appropriate human response proved to be the display of dominance to maintain a distance from a beg-robbing monkey. Road-ranging macaques have also been injured or killed by visitors to obtain meat or bones or merely for amusement. Attempts should be made to eliminate the negative effects of food handouts by increasing visitors’ awareness of behavioural and ecological aspects and through aversive conditioning of the macaques.