TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taroko National Park Management Office said in a press release on Tuesday (Sept. 10) that representatives from Taiwan’s leading national parks discussed Formosan macaque population management practices to reduce the rising number of human-monkey conflicts. 

After listening to input from park representatives, there was consensus to put forward four specific guidelines for park visitors when interacting with macaques: do not expose food, do not eat in front of macaques, observe and maintain a distance of five meters, and do not provoke or try to drive away macaques.

National Park Service Acting Director Chen Chen-jung (陳貞蓉) said that humans should keep their distance from macaques and avoid potentially dangerous activities such as feeding monkeys. Chen added that many conflicts are caused by food, per CNA.

Chen used Taroko National Park as an example, noting many conflicts occur near restaurants, supermarkets, and other tourist areas around spaces around the Tianxiang Recreation Area. Chen said macaques were known to frequently take food from tourists in these areas.

In other national parks, such as Yangmingshan and Shoushan, visitors were often the ones to initiate contact with macaques through illegal feeding. In more remote hiking trails and camping areas in Yushan, Sheipa, and Kenting, wild macaques have developed the habit of searching for food from human sources, creating many human-monkey conflicts.

Taroko National Park Management Office said it continues to promote ecological conservation work and improve recreational services for visitors. The park also said it was committed to wildlife management, promoting beneficial policies for people and nature.