Crab-eater with the Long Tail

Explanation: Having the complete free run of the place! ... is this macaque, staying cool in the shade, here at the Pura Luhur Ulumatu Cliffside Temple, on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of its kind freely roam the temple and cliffside scrublands here, so accustomed to the many visitors and tourists to the point of sometimes being aggressive and stealing bags, glasses, cups, and other held items.

This is a Crab-eating Macaque, also known as the Long-tailed Macaque or Long-tailed Gray Macaque, found in southeast Asia often along coasts and rivers, swamps and mangroves, and bamboo forests. They are also invasive in western New Guinea and Hong Kong, and can be an agricultural pest, and boasts at least 9 subspecies. But even with such diversity and tenacity, the species is still rated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, based on recent population declines.

Photo taken on Rinca Island, Indonesia.

The species is the most arboreal of all macaques, but the "Crab-eating" moniker arose because of their affinity to water and coastal diets of oysters, clams, and crustaceans.

The "Long-tailed" moniker arose because the tail is longer than the body, which is unique among the other, mostly short-tailed macaque species:

High in a tree, with a long tail for balance, this individual "Crab-eater"
is finding no crabs up here.
Photo taken in southern Borneo, Indonesia.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week