Peucang Island is a habitat for long-tailed monkeys. This monkey is small and weighs less than 7 kg. Because it looks cute and tiny, many visitors like to give food to the monkeys. Perhaps there was no malicious intent from the humans feeding the monkeys. But many experts have regretted this action. Because feeding the monkeys turned out to have a very bad impact on the monkeys and humans too.
Quoted from the Mongabay website, Rosek Nursahid, Head of the NGO Profauna Indonesia, said that if the long-tailed monkeys that are used to being fed by visitors will change their behavior. The monkeys become dependent on the food provided by visitors and the instinct to find food independently in the wild is slowly disappearing. Then, even monkeys can no longer survive in their natural habitat,
In addition, as has happened in many other ecotourism locations, the long-tailed monkeys on Peucang Island have also become more aggressive. They always try to seize the luggage belonging to visitors. Especially if you know you’re bringing food. If we resist, monkeys can attack by biting or clawing. Wounds caused by monkeys can be a way of transmitting dangerous diseases such as rabies and hepatitis.
So, if you plan to visit Peucang Island, please don’t ever feed the monkeys. It is enough to observe them from afar and avoid the monkeys as much as possible.
