1m 8s: longueur
205Nombre de vues
0Évaluation

A band of Toque Macaques is having a good time roaming freely inside the Kandy Botanical Garden known as "Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya". A nice occasion to get close to them and make a few close-ups on these blond monkeys with light skinned faces despite their tropical habitat. The toque macaque (Macaca sinica) is a reddish-brown-coloured Old World monkey endemic to Sri Lanka, where it is locally known as the rilewa or rilawa (Sinhala රිළවා), (hence "rillow" in the Oxford English Dictionary). It is named for the toque-shaped whorl of hair on its head, rather like the bonnet of the related bonnet macaque. It lives in troops, sometimes numbering up to 20, and has developed into three subspecies. This is a medium-sized monkey, although it is the smallest living species of macaque. It has a head and body length of 35--62 cm (14--24 in), a tail length of 40--60 cm (16--24 in). Males, at a weight of 4.1 to 8.4 kg (9.0 to 19 lb), can occasionally attain much larger sizes than females, at a weight of 2.3 to 4.5 kg (5.1 to 9.9 lb).[3][4][5] Troops of the toque macaque are a common sight in the Cultural Triangle, where many ancient temples are situated, hence earning them the nickname "temple monkey". Toque macaques live only in Sri Lanka. They look very different depending on their habitat. Toque macaques prefer natural forest land ranging from sea-level up to 6,000 feet. Those living in cold climates have thick, dark brown fur and short limbs and tails, while those living in the lowland rainforest have reddish or golden colored coats and long umbrella-like bonnets. The dry zone race has light coats, long limbs and short bonnets or toque hair. Toque macaques are omnivores and like to eat fruit, seeds, nuts, mushrooms, tubers, invertebrates and occasionally animals, including reptiles and birds. All are expert raiders of crops where humans encroach on their habitat. Wild cats (leopards and fishing cats) and python snakes are the main predators of this species. Unfortunately, the toque macaque is endangered; their rainforest home is being cut down for logging and for farming. The two recognized subspecies of toque macaques are: Dryzone toque macaque, M. s. sinica Wetzone toque macaque, M. s. aurifrons