Macaque

The macaques ( or ) constitute a genus (Macaca) of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques are distributed throughout Asia, North Africa and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally frugivorous, although their diet also includes seeds, leaves, flowers, and tree bark, and some, such as the crab-eating macaque, subsist on a diet of invertebrates and occasionally small vertebrates. Macaques are found in a variety of habitats throughout the Asian continent, and are extremely adaptable. All macaque social groups are matriarchal, arranged around dominant females. They also have learned to live with humans, and have become an invasive species in some human inhabited landscapes, such as the island of Mauritius and Silver Springs State Park in Florida. Macaques can be a threat to conservation, along with a threat to human wellbeing through carrying transmittable and fatal diseases. Currently, macaques as an invasive species are handled with several control methods.