The Fear of Monkeys - The Best E-Zine on the Web for Politically Conscious WritingCelebes Crested Macaque - Issue Forty-One
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The Lar Gibbon  from Christiano Artuso The Celebes Crested Macaque is an Old World monkey that lives in the Tangkoko reserve (home of the biggest crested macaque population remaining in the species' original distribution range) in the north-eastern tip of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi as well as on smaller neighbouring islands. The Celebes crested macaque is a diurnal rain forest dweller. This macaque is primarily terrestrial, spending most of its day on the ground foraging for food and socializing, while sleeping and searching for food in the trees. They are frugivorous, with most of their diet fruit, although they also eat leaves, buds, seeds, fungus, small birds and bird eggs, insects (such as beetles and caterpillars) worms, snails and the occasional small lizard or frog. Locally known as yaki or wolai, its skin and hairless face is, with the exception of some white hair in the shoulder range, entirely jet black. Unusual for a primate, it has striking reddish-brown eyes. The long muzzle with high cheeks and the long hair tuft, or crest, at the top of the head are remarkable features. It has an "apelike" appearance due to its almost non-existent, non-visible, vestigial tail stub of only approximately 2 cm. With a total body length of 44 cm to 60 cm and a weight of 3.6 kg to 10.4 kg, it is one of the smaller macaque species. Its life expectancy is estimated at approximately 15-20 years in the wild. They typically live in groups of five to twenty-five animals, and occasionally in groups of up to seventy-five animals. Smaller groups have only a single adult male, while larger groups have up to four adult males. However, adult females always outnumber adult males by about 4:1. Young adult males are forced to leave their birth group upon maturity, sometimes forming bachelor groups before seeking a connection to an existing adult mixed-sex group. Communication consists of various sounds and gestures; such as the presentation of the long canine teeth while grimacing, a clearly threatening gesture. They are promiscuous, with both males and females mating multiple times with multiple partners. The receptivity of the females is clearly indicated by an extreme tumescence (swelling) and redness of their buttocks which, in contrast to the black skin color, is particularly noticeable. The gestation time is 174 days, and the birth of the usually single offspring happens in the spring when food is more plentiful. Young animals are nursed for approximately one year, becoming fully mature in three to four years, females somewhat sooner than males. Because they live from crops and fields, they are hunted as a pest. They are also hunted for the bushmeat trade. Clearing the rain forests further threatens their survival. Their situation on the small neighbouring islands of Sulawesi (such as Bacan) is somewhat better, since these have a low human population. The total population of the macaque on Sulawesi is estimated at 4,000-6,000, while a booming population of up to 100,000 monkeys is found on Bacan.

   


The Widow's Vote

by

Iftekhar Sayeed


The presidential clemency to Mohiuddin Jhintu has again ignited the unbearable pain Nilufar Yasmin has been bearing for the last 23 years after Jhintu and his thugs killed her husband Firoz Al Mamun in 1982.

- The Daily Star, August 5, 2005


for the sake
of argument
suppose i
killed him

i'm the kind
of man
the party needs

ruthless and
loyal

i suppose
i could
have swung
from the gallows

but that would
have helped
no one
except the poor
widow

she has
my sympathies
my heart
nearly breaks

but orders
are to be
obeyed

like a good
soldier
i did
what i
was told

now the party
needs votes
and i can
deliver

no voter cares
about what
happened
twenty-three
years ago

except one


Iftekhar Sayeed teaches English. He was born and lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has contributed to The Danforth Review, Axis of Logic, Enter Text, Postcolonial Text, Southern Cross Review, Opednews.com, Left Curve, Mobius, Erbacce, Down In The Dirt, The Fear of Monkeys and other publications. Somewhat influenced by DHL, he likes to write about the pong of society, as well as its deodorant: He’s tempted at times to describe himself as, and feels himself to be, a pongographer. He is also a freelance journalist. He and his wife love to travel.

 

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