Assam Macaque

About the Assam Macaque

The Assam macaque (Macaca assamensis) or Assamese macaque is a macaque of the Old World monkey family native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, as it is experiencing significant declines due to poaching, habitat degradation, and fragmentation.

The Assam macaque has a yellowish-grey to dark brown pelage. The facial skin is dark brownish to purplish. The head has a dark fringe of hair on the cheeks directed backwards to the ears. The hair on the crown is parted in the middle. The shoulders, head and arms tend to be paler than the hindquarters, which are greyish. The tail is well-haired and short. Head-to-body-length measures 51 to 73.5 cm (20.1 to 28.9 in), and the tail is 15 to 30 cm (5.9 to 11.8 in) long. Adult weight is 5 to 10 kg (11 to 22 lb).

In Nepal, the Assam macaque occurs east of the Kali Gandaki river at elevations of 200–1,800 m (660–5,910 ft). In northeastern India, it lives in tropical and subtropical semievergreen forests, dry deciduous and montane forests up to elevations of 4,000 m (13,000 ft). In Laos and Vietnam, it prefers elevations above 500 m... Wikipedia →