Motivated by food, long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) campus, have been observed exploiting waste, damaging bins, and scattering rubbish, resulting in unpleasant odours, unsightly surroundings, increased risk of disease outbreaks and community nuisance. This study aims to examine macaques' waste exploitation behaviour patterns during foraging and their relationship with incidence of nuisance at UKM. Scan sampling was conducted between April 2022 and February 2023, comparing anti-animal bins with four other bin types. Waste exploitation and nuisance behaviour data were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey's HSD test, and Pearson correlation. Waste exploitation, particularly removing rubbish away, was the most common behaviour (37.7%), and trespassing in the college was the most frequent nuisance behaviour (90.8%). The smallest bin exhibited the highest frequency of waste exploitation (41.8%) and nuisance behaviour (45.9%). The use of anti-animal bins reduced waste exploitation behaviour by 99.3% and nuisance to humans by 81.4%. A negative correlation (r = –0.755, n = 23013, P < 0.001) was found between macaque waste exploitation and nuisance behaviour, suggesting that the amount of human-generated refuse influences macaque food resource selection. These findings will inform the management of both M. fascicularis and waste at UKM.

Published online 19 June, 2024; Print publication 31 July, 2024