Rat - eating macaques found in the rainforests of Malaysia have left research worker “ stunned ” thanks to their unpleasant dining preference and the impacts it could have . Despite their pesky report , young research suggests that these dodgy predatory animal may assist in the production of palm crude and could alleviate some of its environmental shock .
Researchers studied the ecology and behavior of pig - tag macaque by collecting range and behavioral data between January 2016 and September 2018 . They found that the primates ate few oil laurel wreath fruit than expected . While one group eat up more than 12 tons of crude palm fruits in one yr , that equates to just 0.5 percent of overall thenar vegetable oil production in the area . What they eat more of were rats , which is a good thing for medal petroleum plantations . Annually , squealer can cut overall production resulting in a close to 10 percent loss of yield .
" I was stunned when I first observed that macaques bung on rats in plantations,“saidstudy co - author Nadine Ruppert . " I did not expect them to run these comparatively large rodents or that they would even eat so much meat . They are widely known to be frugivorous primates who only now and then banquet on little hoot or lizards . "
Macaques have the potentiality to roleplay as “ biologic blighter mastery ” agents by feed on puke , drop a line the researchers inCurrent Biology . Each group is capable of reducing rat populations by about 3,000 individuals every year , which redeem farmers about $ 112 per hectare .
" By uncovering cavities in oil medal trunk where rats seek tax shelter during the day , one group of pig - tailed macaques can get more than 3,000 rats per yr , " say lead generator Anna Holzner in astatement . Macaques are largely effective due to their foraging conduct and can deoxidize rat numbers by more than 75 percent . estimate suggest that macaques can reduce takings loss from 10 per centum to less than 3 per centum in a plantation of just over 400,000 hectare ( 1 million acres ) in sizing , which equalize to about $ 650,000 .
oil colour from medal Tree is used in everything from cook vegetable oil and cosmetics to biofuel , according to theWorld Wildlife Fund . The vegetable oil decoration Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is very productive and grows only in the tropic , currently covering18.7 million hectares(46 million acres ) of land worldwide . Asinternational demand increases , so doesdeforestation , human - wildlifeconflicts , ecological impacts , and biodiversity loss that threatensSumatran tigersandorangutans , among other specie .
Rodenticides , which are toxicant used to pour down rodents , are not only expensive and for the most part inefficient but can harm other wildlife , previous research has find . The authors of the unexampled survey say this foreground the “ global grandness of amend sustainable palm fossil oil production , include the manipulation of efficient environmentally favorable pest control condition . ” substitute output methods could scale down the impact of medal oil color plantation on nearby habitats , and the authors trust that their findings might encourage woodlet owners to protect forest home ground found within and around Modern and subsist plantations .
" In coaction with local palm oil company and NGOs , we will work towards the realization of a orchard design that hold workable macaque populations and higher levels of biodiversity via wildlife corridor while increasing the orchard ' productivity and sustainability by in effect and environmentally friendly pest control,”saidsenior author Anja Widdig .
“ This ultimately can guide to a win - winnings situation for both biodiversity and the oil palm industry . "
