Aggressivity level of LTM (Macaca Fascicularis) and visitors’ perception in Tlogo Muncar Kaliurang, Taman Nasional Gunung Merapi After Two Years of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Long-tailed macaque/LTM (Macaca fascicularis) has good interaction and adaptation ability, as we found in the Tlogo Muncar area, Kaliurang, Yogyakarta, which is accustomed to visitors. Often food provision by visitors allegedly increases the aggressiveness of LTMs. Three groups of macaques identified at Tlogo Muncar are Waterfall, Joglo Trubus, and Mushola group. The study aimed to understand visitors’ perceptions and the aggression level of LTM at Tlogo Muncar area, Merapi Mount National Park (Taman Nasional Gunung Merapi/TNGM) after two years of closure of the site caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Observations were conducted using the scan sampling method and continued by focal sampling. According to Wijayanto (2015), the aggressiveness of LTM is divided into four categories, aggressive level 1: dare to approach, potentially attack physically and steal goods or food from the front; aggressive level 2, steal goods or food from behind or side, aggressive level 3, steal goods or food when the visitor is off guard; and aggressive level 4, dare to approach when fed and only look for food waste in the dump. Observing visitors’ perceptions was conducted by randomly distributing questionnaires to 100 respondents. The result showed that aggressive behaviour level 1 is generally carried out by adult male LTMs. However, aggressive behaviour observed is mainly aggressivity level 4. The questionnaire results indicate decreasing respondents’ understanding of the disease transmission from long-tailed monkeys to humans compared to the 2021 questionnaire result. However, most visitors agreed that the interaction between humans and LTMs should be limited to a specific location within the area.